Can't Help Falling in Love
by aliceengland
Summary: Cato/Katniss fanfiction. Katniss has volunteered as tribute in the Games, keeping her promise to her sister Prim. But after she meets the boy from District 2, she learns that her heart will either help her or kill her. WARNING: This story contains language and sexual scenes not suitable for a younger audience. If you are under the age of 18, do not continue to read this story.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was heating my face but I was too exhausted to move. I wished that I could stay in this peace forever, not having to show myself off or pretend to be in love with someone that I wasn't in love with. It was exhausting and it wasn't what I wanted. But I had to do this, for my family. I managed to find a few more minutes of sleep before there was a loud knock at my door.

"Katniss, it's time to get ready, what are you doing?" It was Haymitch's voice. He didn't even sound drunk.. Must have to be something important for him to be sober. I rolled over and slowly sat up on the side of my bed, rubbing my eyes. A couple of seconds passed before I answered Haymitch.

"Well I was asleep, but I guess not anymore" I said, sarcasm pouring out. Without my saying, Haymitch welcomed himself into my room.

"Jesus Christ sweetheart, you look awful" Wow, thanks Haymitch. I know I looked terrible after 6 hours of sleeping in the same position, but I didn't need to hear it from my mentor. Besides, he was one to talk about appearances. He looked like shit most of the time anyway. I replied with a piercing look, and stood up and stretched.

"Right okay, well you have to be downstairs in prep in 10 minutes, I'll meet you down there" he said, and left me alone. I walked over to my dressing table where the mirror was. God, Haymitch wasn't wrong. I did look like shit.

"You should probably have a shower Katniss" I said to myself, and headed to the ensuite bathroom, where the shower was already running. Stupid voice controlled shower.

After the shower, I threw a white silk robe over me. It didn't seem like a robe at all, it was way too short and stopped at the top my thighs. I know I didn't have to do my hair or my makeup, that was the whole point of the prep team. I quickly blow dried my long brown hair, and after it didn't look too bad. Sitting on my shoulders in gentle curls, it seemed tamed enough for the journey down to the prep room. With only 5 minutes left to get ready, I threw on a pair of burgundy sweat shorts and a long sleeved white shirt that I rolled to my elbows. I started for the door, but remembered I was still barefoot. I grabbed my white vans and quickly tied them up, then walked for the hallway where the elevators were.

After stepping out into the hallway, I noticed it was eerily quiet. Of course, everyone was downstairs preparing for the interviews this evening. Great, another thing I had to do. The Capitol make such a meal out of the Games. Couldn't they just throw us into the arena and be done with it.

"And how long would you survive without sponsors Katniss" I said to myself, whilst pressing the ground floor button on the elevator. Whilst waiting for the elevator to arrive, I glanced to my right, where there was a full length window. It was a really sunny day today, no clouds in the sky, but the trees in the Capitol square were swaying gently. The elevator had arrived, and the doors opened. I stepped in and clicked the basement button on the panel. The doors closed and the gentle cruise downwards began. I watched the button panel inside the elevator count down each level. 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.. Wait, why was it stopping at 2.

The doors started to open, and there was a giant figure standing in between the doors. A huge boy, with muscles designed to kill, blonde hair and blue eyes stepped into the elevator and pressed the basement button on the panel. He stood to the left of the elevator, whilst I stood as far to the right as I could. I could see in my peripheral that he took a quick glance towards me.

"I thought it would have been empty" he said, in a deep manly tone. So did I, I thought. I remained silent as the elevator continued down, but he was constantly glancing at me from the side. It was getting quite annoying.

"Can you stop staring at me please" I said sternly, keeping my head straight. I could see him grin from the side, but after a few seconds a replied.

"I'm not staring, I'm just seeing what competition I have. I see it isn't hard competition" he said, quietly laughing. How dare he. I stayed quiet until the elevator stopped, the doors opened and I quickly jumped out. I carried on walking along the corridor until I could see a door with the number 12 in gold on the front. I opened the door, but glanced back as I closed it, and he was just stood there, by the elevator doors looking at me. God, what a creep. I slammed the door shut, and turned to greet my prep team. Flavius and Octavia were such darlings. Born and raised in the Capitol, they were the nicest people I had met so far, and they made me feel good about myself.

"Katniss darling! You look amazing!" Flavius exclaimed as he pulled me in for a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. Even if I was wearing a garbage bag, he would still think I looked fabulous.

"Well Haymitch said I looked terrible, so you'll have to put a lot of effort in to make me gorgeous" I said sarcastically, as I knew Flavius would think Haymitch's remarks were unacceptable. Of course I was correct, with Flavius waving his hands in the air, cursing Haymitch.

"Honestly honey, that man looks worse than a dog from the wild. Octavia, Katniss is here" I could see Octavia in the corner of the room, getting all of the equipment ready for my preparation for the interview. As soon as she seen me, she came running over, well running was an overstatement in those heels, but somehow she made it across the room and into my arms.

"Katniss, look at you! We don't have a lot of time, but we won't need it. You always look gorgeous!" Octavia exclaimed, pressing her cheek into mine. After the greetings were over, I was dragged to the corner of the room where my preparation was taking place, and put into a gruelling routine of hair pulling and makeup application. Flavius wanted to paint my eyelids gold, but Octavia stopped his hand.

"Flavius, you know what Effie told us, nothing too bold. We'll stick with this light purple for now" she said and began to brush the eyeshadow across my eyelids. Flavius seemed hurt, with Octavia noticing.

"Oh Flavius, I'm sure we can throw some gold in there somewhere" she said with a wink, and a huge grin across his face, Flavius began to spread a dark purple lipstick across my lips.

"Darling you're lips are so luscious and big! A treat to work with" he laughed, and after another 10 minutes of makeup and hair, I was considered finished.

"Take a look at yourself darling, you'll hardly recognise yourself" Flavius said, holding a mirror to my face. Wow, he was right. Damn I looked amazing. My eyebrows were arched and filled, my eyelashes were long, black and hiding behind them were purple and gold eyelids. The dark purple lipstick topped it all off, I did look amazing.

"Flavius, Octavia, as always, you've worked magic" I said. My hair was in tighter curls but they were relaxing on my shoulders and down my back. They had worked a plait into the sides of my hair, whilst still making it look like it was natural.

"You've honestly done a terrific job. I just hope the sponsors think so too" I said, with uncertainty. Once they had finished packing up their equipment, they took me over to a room filled with rails upon rails of evening gowns. There was no way I could pull any of these off, even with my hair and makeup looking like this. Octavia was scanning the rails, her hand brushing along the dresses as she did, and she stopped at a red gown. She pulled it out and hung it on a hook on the wall.

"What do you think Katniss?" she said, as she ruffled the bottom of the dress. Then she stood behind me with her hands on my shoulders. I looked at the dress in amazement. How did they think I could wear that?

"Octavia, I mean it's a beautiful dress, but you don't think I would honestly look good in that do you?" I said, and she started pushing me forward. I took the dress in my hands and felt the material. It was silky, and wasn't exactly floor length, which was a benefit of it I supposed.

"Can I try it on?" I asked Octavia. She immediately dragged me over the a curtain and passed the dress to me. I could hear Flavius outside the curtain.

"Oh my God this is so exciting!" he said, and I could hear his clapping his hands. Once it was on, I pulled the curtain back, and immediately Flavius and Octavia's faces were shocked. Oh no, it looked terrible. I knew it.

"I knew it would look terrible on. Is there not anything else I could wear?" I asked disheartened. Octavia shushed me and dragged me over to a full length mirror on the other side of the room.

"Put these on!" she exclaimed, and put in front of me a pair of red stilettos. Once they were on, I look at myself in the mirror. Holy shit. I looked amazing. I looked glamourous and felt it too.

"Oh my God, Octavia, I look…" I couldn't finish my sentence, I was stunned.

"This is what you're wearing tonight and in that dress, you'll have all of the sponsors lining up just for you!" she shouted, and she could be right. I looked perfect, with the dress fitting all of my curves, and I hoped this would help me in the war for sponsors.

Half an hour later, I was lining up along a corridor, presumably waiting my turn for my interview. And because I was District 12, I was all the way at the back. The tributes interviews only lasted 3 minutes, but after each one, they seemed to come back through the corridor and sit in chairs labeled with their district number. Why did they have to sit here, where they can stare? Even doing the interviews early was stupid, training hadn't even begun yet. I could see the tributes already sitting in their chairs on the other side of the hallway. District 1 and the girl from 2 were already sat down. Then 3 minutes later, the huge boy with blonde hair I had seen in the elevator earlier came down the steps and took his seat. He was looking along the line, eyeing up his competition. And then his eyes found me.

His expression changed so quickly I didn't have time to register it. His eyes seemed to widen and a smile creeped along his face. Soon enough, it was my turn for an interview and after Peeta's performance of long lost love, I had to keep up the act. That's if we wanted sponsors.

"Katniss, you're up" a Capitol woman wearing a light pink dress grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the steps that led to the stage. I stood there for a minute whilst Caesar Flickerman entertained the crowd. Wow, I was nervous. The applauds and laughing beyond the stage was terrifying. Why was I so nervous?

"Why so nervous girl on fire? It's just a few hundred thousand sponsors watching" a voice snapped at me. I turned around to see it was the girl from District 1. She had strawberry blonde hair, and I seem to recall her name was Glimmer from her interview. I gave her a sharp look and noticed that the District 2 boy, Cato I think his name was, was still staring at me.

"Katniss, you ready? In 3..2..1, you're on." the woman said, and she motioned me to start climbing the steps to the stage. I as stepped onto the stage, I was greeted by Caesar Flickerman's hand which led me towards the centre of the stage where there were 2 chairs. He held my arm up in his, and motioned for the audience to applaud. But Caesar didn't have to encourage them, they were going crazy. I could see people screaming, punching their fists into the air, and hugging one another. God these Capitol people were crazy. Caesar asked me to take a seat, and I did. I felt better once I was sat down, I wasn't going to last long standing up in these heels.

"Katniss! Welcome welcome! My God look at you!" he applauded my appearance which started the audience back up again.

"So, Katniss, or should I call you the girl on fire?" Caesar asked, but it seemed to be sarcastic. The audience laughed along with him, in which I replied Katniss was fine.

"No problem, so Katniss! Exciting things are headed your way! You must be excited to say the least?" he said, but his tone was serious. Oh my God, he couldn't be serious with a question like that? Was I excited for the Games? Hell no! But that's all it was to the Capitol, a game.

"Excited? Excited to be killed? I don't think so Caesar. In fact, I'm terrified, and so I should be" I said back at him, copying his serious tone. He took my hand in his, and caressed it gently.

"My apologies Katniss, of course you must be very scared. But I'm sure your bravery will show in the arena! Ha ha ha!" He said, finishing with that stupid laugh he does, which got the audience laughing and applauding again. 3 minutes this interview was, and 1 minute was already taken by Caesar and the audience. Of course, my bravery, he's talking about my volunteering for my sister. It wasn't bravery, I made her a promise that she would not go to the Games, and I kept that promise without bravery involved. I was doing this for her.

"I made a promise that I would never see her go to the Games, I'm not brave, I'm just keeping a promise" I said, trying not to think of Prim, as I would surely cry. Caesar seemed to see emotion looming over me, and changed the subject.

"Oh Katniss you are brave! But what are your fighting techniques? Do you think you will win?" he asked, and I looked at the audience who were leaning in their seats. I hesitated to answer, as we aren't supposed to share our fighting techniques. But I came up with a better answer.

"I don't need to fight Caesar. I have other things that will help me survive, and who knows..." I made sure to look into the camera for the finish of my sentence as I knew the other tributes would be watching in the corridor on the TV.

"... I might even win the Games" and I gave a wink to the camera. Caesar and the audience loved it. The applause lasted a lifetime, but when it eventually died down, Caesar turned to me and spoke.

"Katniss Katniss, you see there! Bravery! You have a very good chance at winning the Games! Always hold onto that" he said, and let go of my hand. The audience applauded again, but this time Caesar stopped them by holding his hand up for quiet as he asked me the question I was not looking forward to.

"Now Katniss, we all want to know, how will you fare if Peeta dies in the arena? Of course, you two are in love, but how do you think this will affect you?" He asked to nonchalantly. I hesitated to answer. I didn't even have an answer, what was I supposed to say? 'Hold on Caesar, I wouldn't mind Peeta dying in the arena of course because not only will it increase my chances of going home, but I'm not even in love with him, it's all a setup for sponsors' No, I couldn't say that. Instead, I sat in silence looking out into the audience, trying to hold on until the timer buzzed in the background, meaning my time was over.

"Well Katniss, we don't need an answer as we can all probably guess how you would take it, but we are unfortunately out of time this evening" Caesar said, standing me up and holding onto my hand. He motioned for the audience to stand and applaud as I made my way off of the stage.

"Let's give it up for Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire!" he shouted, and the applause was deafening. I quickly made my way down the steps, where the tributes were looking at me as I walked down towards my seat at the end. Shit, that went as bad as I thought it would. But the audience seemed to like me, so with that chillingly terrible performance on my behalf, I held onto hope that it was enough to get a few sponsors. After a few minutes, each band of tributes were redirected to elevators back up to their floors. As District 1 walked past me, I heard Glimmer say under her breath to the boy next to her, Marvel I think his name was

"She's going to be a problem, we have to kill her first" to which Marvel replied "I know, we need to talk to 2" he said, and they both entered their elevators. District 2 were making their way towards their elevator. I received a wicked stare from the girl, Clove, but Cato didn't look at me at all as he walked past. Thank God, I thought. Once the tributes started dying down, Effie came down to escort us back to our quarters. Peeta sprinted up from behind to walk alongside me.

"Katniss, why didn't you answer Caesar's last question?" Peeta asked me. Fuck, because I didn't want to tell him that I wouldn't mind you dying because it might get me back to Prim.

"I didn't really want to share how I would feel if you died in the arena, which you won't by the way" I said, and walked past him to walk alongside Effie. She at least doesn't question everything I do. Instead, she just throws compliments out or tells me to stand up straight. Once we were back upstairs, Effie said she wanted to have a team meeting about our interviews, but I just wanted to go to my room and forget the whole horrible thing.

"Effie can't we talk about it tomorrow? I'm really tired, plus we have training tomorrow" I said, whilst making my way towards my room. She didn't seem to stop me, but instead nodded her head and told everyone to go to bed. I walked into my room, locking the door behind me. I kicked off my heels and pulled my dress over my head, leaving me standing naked in the room. I jumped into the bed, pulled the silk sheets over me. The silk felt good on my naked body, and I eventually drifted into a deep sleep filled with bright lights, loud clapping and blue eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, I was the most refreshed I've felt in a while. I rolled over to look at the clock on the wall. It was 6am. What? I thought about going back to sleep, but training started at noon, and I wanted to get a feel of the training room before everyone was there. I quickly showered and threw on my laced bra, some tight fitted grey leggings, white trainers and an oversized white t-shirt. I knew everyone would still be sleeping, the people in the Capitol always sleep in, so I didn't have to sneak around so quietly. Once out of my room, I ran through the dining room heading straight for the door. I gently closed the door, as I was sure if I slammed it shut, someone was bound to wake up and notice my absence. And I didn't want anyone following me, this was something I wanted to do on my own. As the elevator headed down to the training room, I had a sense that today was going to make or break me. I couldn't show my strengths, but I had to impress the other tributes and show them that I can fight for myself. This was why I wanted to go down early, to get a lay of the ground and find out what my best move would be later.

The elevator settled down and the doors opened, revealing a long corridor with huge metal double doors at the end. There didn't seem to be any sort of code to get in, I tried pushing a door, which to my surprise, actually worked. The lights in the training room were on. I quickly whipped my head around the door to see if anyone was in there, perhaps peacekeepers preparing for later. But there wasn't anyone that I could see. I creeped in and closed the doors quietly behind me, which was hard, as they were metal and very heavy. I started walking towards the centre of the room, where there were weapons lined up. Swords, a bow and sheath of arrows, knives and heavy metal cylinders. A lot of people always think that my main strength is with a bow, but what people don't know and what I don't want them to know, is that I'm actually pretty good with a sword too. I used to practise swinging techniques with sticks I found in the woods back in 12, but I wanted to try them out with a real sword. I admired the swords they had ready, all really heavy. My eyes found the sword in the middle of the bunch. I leaned forward and picked it up, weighing it in both of my hands.

"You're really going to use that in the arena?" There was a voice behind me. Fuck, I thought it was empty in here. I turned around with the sword still in my hands, to see Cato, from District 2, standing with his arms folded on his chest.

"No I mean really, with that thing, you could probably kill a squirrel or something bigger like a fish" He said sarcastically. He doubted I could use the sword.

"I thought it would have been empty in here" I said. Fuck, wasn't that the same thing he said in the elevator? He started walking towards me.

"I came down early to check out the grounds, and I wanted to see what weapons they were providing, which I can see you already found" he said, eyeing up the sword in my hands.

"What can you use?" I asked him, I was actually very curious at what he would use to fight with in the arena. He didn't answer me, but instead pointed to the sword in my hands. A sword? He fights with a sword? I didn't reply to his gesture, but instead threw him the sword in my hands, and grabbed another one from the group and stepped towards the side of Cato. He looked confused as to what I was doing, but he would soon find out.

"What are you doing?" he asked, holding out the sword in his hand. It seemed he understood what I was doing as he was standing ready with the sword faced towards me. I held out the sword in my right hand, and started pacing side to side, back and forth, challenging him.

"Oh you want to fight me? So be it" he said and he didn't hesitate as he lunged for me with the sword. But I was ready, I swung my sword up where it collided with his, pulled back and swung for him quicker than he expected. We kept this constant swinging of the swords up for around 5 minutes. I lunged for his chest with the sword, but he had already anticipated my move and moved to the side, stuck his foot out, tripping me up. I was on the ground with the sword about a metre away, but he stood over me with the sword behind the back of my neck.

"That was impressive, but you need to work on your..." he was cut off, as I rolled over and flipped myself up, ran towards the sword, swooped down to pick it up and faced him again with the sword in my hand.

"I need to work on what?" I said, teasingly. This felt good. We fought again and again, until we were running out of breath and energy. It was him that stopped first, throwing the sword to the ground and holding his hand out for me to stop.

"Had enough?" I asked him tauntingly. He nodded his head, and I threw my sword to the ground, making sure to kick both of them as far as I could away from him in case of a sneak attack. I walked towards the side of the room where there was a wall, and slid myself onto the floor. He followed me over and did the same, keeping a bit of distance between us.

"You're pretty good with a sword you know. I wouldn't have expected that from 12" he said, looking at me from the side. I looked back and smiled. I knew I was good, and I'm glad I got some practice in.

"I grew up practising with sticks, so that was my first time with a real sword" I admitted. But he shook his head and spoke.

"You've got a good technique, but you need to show strength when you fight. Show your enemy that you're fighting to kill" he said, and he began to move closer, until he was sat next to me on the floor against the wall.

"Thanks for the practice" I said, glancing at him. He was looking at me as well, and for some reason I felt a strange sensation deep inside of me. Woah, what was that? He stood up, turned around and offered me his hand. Once I was stood up, we sort of stood there awkwardly for a minute before he spoke up.

"You can practise later you know, when the training starts" he said, motioning to the rack of swords. Haymitch said we weren't supposed to show our strengths, and even Haymitch didn't know about my swordsmanship. Not even my mother or Prim knew about it. It was only me, and well, it seemed Cato now knows.

"I can't" I said simply, and turned to walk for the doors. I could feel he was following me, but not catching up to me.

"Why not?" he asked. I didn't really want to tell him, it seemed shitty. But he was the first person to see how good I was with a sword.

"Believe it or not, no one knows about my swordsmanship. No one. Not even my family, not my mentors, not Peeta. Expect you" I said, and I turned around and stood still, allowing him to walk towards me.

"Why would you keep it secret?" he asked, but it seemed he already knew the answer, and he nodded his head before I even replied.

"That's a good tactic you know. But why should you trust me? I'm a Career, and I could easily run back to my group and tell them everything. Tell them your fighting techniques, how you swing and which way you would step" he said menacingly. Fuck, was he going to do that? He's right, I shouldn't have trusted him. I was just so angry at everyone thinking I was weak and couldn't fight. I wasn't going to plead with him not to, who was I to get down on my knees and beg.

"Will you do that?" I asked, not wanting to hear the answer, as if he did, my whole plan was ruined. I waited for him to answer, but instead he came so close to me, and took my hands in his.

"No" he said. No?

"Why not? You have the perfect chance. You know what I fight with and my technique" I said, I wasn't getting upset, but I could feel the tears wanting to escape from the corner of my eyes.

"Because I don't want to. I'll remember it. But I'm not going to tell the others" he said, and his hand found my face. He stroked my cheek with his thumb. Why was he doing that? His skin on my skin sent a chill down my spine. But it felt good. Oh did it feel good. I leaned into his hand.

"Listen, it's probably not a good idea if we did this. Not here or at all. Everyone expects us to be enemies, and we should probably keep it that way" he said, dropping his hand. He was right of course, nothing could ever happen, and we were stupid to think about it. This boy was my enemy, and I had to start acting like it.

"I don't want to be mean to you, but it's what they want. Don't be upset if seem mean in front of the others later. We just have to keep up the facade" he said and he was absolutely right.

"What made you think something was going to happen anyway? Like you said, we're enemies. And I'm not going to get upset if you're mean to me. I'm strong you know, physically and mentally" I said, and began to head for the double doors. I didn't look back but I could tell he wasn't following me. As my hand touched the handle of the door, I heard heavy footsteps behind me. I turned around quickly to see Cato running towards me. Fuck! Is he attacking me? I haven't even got a weapon! I put my arms up ready to defend myself but he pushed them down, pushed me against the doors, and his lips found mine. It wasn't a slow kiss, but it was passionate, oh so passionate. His tongue found an opening into my mouth as did mine. His hands were holding onto my hair as he held my head up towards his face. I rested my hands on his chest, feeling his abs with my fingers. One of his hands left my hair and started making it's way down my body, resting on my hip and eventually onto my ass. He squeezed my ass with his hand, and soon enough, both hands were caressing my ass. God it felt so good, because it was so wrong. I pushed my ass into his hands and soon his lips found my neck. His hands were making their way up my back where they slipped underneath my t shirt, my bare back now exposed. I could tell he wanted to undo my bra and take off my t shirt, but he stopped kissing me, and leant his forehead on mine. Catching our breath, we paused for a moment.

"For someone from District 12, you're goddamn sexy you know" he said, and he began to kiss me again, this time going straight for my neck. He was kissing and nipping it with his teeth, and a small moan escaped from my lips. I wanted his hands to touch other parts of me, and it was as if he was reading my mind. Still at my neck, his hands moved their way up towards my chest, where they found my breasts. He squeezed them in his hands, and this time, decided to take my bra off. I removed the straps from my shoulders and threw it onto the floor. His hands found my ass again, lifting me up against the doors, with my legs wrapped around his middle. His kisses travelled down onto my chest and he lifted my t shirt up over my breasts where they were now exposed. His breathing got heavier, as one of his hands found my bare breast, he began massaging it, teasing my nipple. Oh god, this feels so good. His lips found mine again. After a moment, he put me down, so I was stood. He stood back and took his t shirt off. His abs were sweaty and so good looking. I wanted him to touch me again. He ripped my t shirt off over my head where it found his on the floor, and soon enough he lifted me up again, one hand holding my ass to hold me up, and the other finding the zipper on his trousers. I knew what was about to happen and I couldn't wait for it. Fuck Peeta, this was what I wanted. Once he had undone his zipper, I could feel his erection on my pussy through my leggings. Both of his hands were now on my ass, and his thumbs found the top of the leggings and began to pull them down. They weren't completely off, but it was enough. Still kissing me, he slowly pushed his cock into my pussy, and god was I ready for him. He seemed to get that too.

"Oh you seem to want me as well" he said, breathing heavy into my mouth, and began to thrust his hips against me. He started slow, but soon sped up, with each thrust pushing his cock deeper and deeper. Fucking hell this felt so good. I couldn't hold back the moans for long, and soon enough I was moaning so loud I thought someone might hear me. But I didn't care.

"Oh god Cato, keep going, oh yeah, yeah.. oh fuck" I breathed into his mouth. His moans were drowned by the slamming of the door that was made as he thrust into me. He smacked my ass with his hand, and that only made it feel better. God I was so close.

"Oh god, you feel so good" he said, and he buried his face into my neck where the kissing continued. I could tell he was close to his release as was I. Soon enough, I felt the muscles in my abdomen tense and gave a final moan of pleasure. He followed soon after, and he slowly let me fall back onto my own feet, his cock pressed against my stomach.

"I thought you said we had to be enemies" I asked, out of breath. He was still holding me, his hands resting on my hips.

"I know but I had to at least do that" he said with a grin. I suppose he was right but I'm so glad it happened. But now we would have to go back to being enemies. Play the facade.

"So I guess we have to be enemies now huh?" I asked. He didn't answer me, but instead kissed me gently on the lips. When he pulled back he said what I didn't ever expect him to say.

"I don't want to be your enemy. Katniss when we're in the arena, you have to make decisions that could save your live, or that could end your life. If you allied with us, with me, you would be safe" he said and I almost laughed.

"Oh yeah ally with you, when the girls would literally stab me in the back when they had the chance" I retorted, which seemed to take him aback. He let go of me, and threw on his t shirt, leaving my to pull my leggings up and put my bra and t shirt back on. Now fully dressed, I felt ready to talk about this seriously.

"Katniss they wouldn't do that" he simply said. How could he say that?

"Cato, I heard them. They were talking at the interviews and I could hear them. They said I would be a problem and they should kill me first. They said they were going to discuss it with District 2" I said, tying my hair back with a hairband I found on my wrist.

"Was this Marvel and Glimmer?" he asked, and I nodded.

"They haven't spoken to us yet, unless they're waiting for training today. Whatever they say, I wouldn't let them do that to you. Marvel follows me around everywhere, wishing he was me. As for Glimmer, she has the biggest crush on me, it's almost embarrassing to be apart of" he said, and let out a small laugh. I laughed along. I didn't know this information. It seemed that District 1 were nothing without District 2.

"You know I can't fight later. Not even with the sword" I said, and I couldn't. Even if Cato knew I could fight, I didn't want all of the careers knowing how good I was.

"Of course not, but, at least you can say a career fucked you" he said with a wink.

"Like I'm going to go around the building telling everyone" I said cheekily, and he suggested that we head back to our rooms before our mentors found out where we were. As I opened the door, he gave my ass a smack, causing me to jump and laugh.

"Shhh, you don't want people to hear you… again" he laughed. God he was right. I was actually really loud when he was fucking me.

"I don't care. Take it as a compliment" I winked at him. He smiled as we headed for the elevator, he pressed the 12 button for me and the 2 for him. Once inside the elevator, we stood in silence. It took about 30 seconds for the elevator to reach his floor, but before the doors opened, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. As soon as the doors opened, he pulled us apart and stepped outside. But before the doors closed, he turned around.

"I'll see you later, girl on fire" he said, in a menacing voice. And I knew from this moment on, we had to pretend to be enemies. It was for the best.

"See you later 2" I said in the same tone. He gave me one last wink, and the elevator doors closed. Oh my God. I couldn't believe what just happened in the training centre. That was the last thing I expected to happen. With that being said, I didn't regret it. The elevator came to a stop on my floor and I jumped out. I was about to charge through the door, but remembered that people might still be sleeping. I slowly crept in, making sure to shut the door quietly behind me. Thank God, no one was awake. I walked back to my room, and closed the door behind me. I looked at the clock but it was only 7:00am. It had only been an hour? But so much had happened in that hour. Things that I will remember. But for now, I had to push it to the back of my mind. No one could know what Cato and I did in the training centre. We were now enemies, or pretending to be. I decided to go back to sleep for a few hours, but wanted to shower first. I needed the warmth of the water to soothe me, and make me sleepy, for all I wanted as to jump up and down in excitement. Cato wasn't my first time, and it didn't seem as if I was his, but nonetheless, it was the best sex I had ever had. When I walked into the shower, I tried turning the knobs on the wall. But then I remembered.

"Shower" I said clearly, and almost immediately, the shower began gushing out hot water. I chose a citrus shower gel, and began washing myself. I felt sore from Cato's pounding earlier, but it felt good to hurt. It reminded me that it happened. After the shower, I threw on my white silk robe and got back into bed. Struggling to close my eyes and drift into sleep, I pictured myself in the woods back in District 12, by myself.


	3. Chapter 3

_The sun was burning my face. I turned over, my hand landed in wet mud. What the hell? I quickly got up, I was alone but I knew I wouldn't be for long. I had slept for longer than I had planned. I got up quickly, threw my backpack over my shoulder and started running._

" _Where is she? Where is that fucking bitch?" I heard a voice shouting in the distance, but it didn't sound far off. I started running faster, and faster until it got painful to breathe._

" _Katniss, where the fuck are you? Just stop so we can kill you already" It was Clove's voice._

 _Fuck it was the whole group of them and they were after me. I stopped for breath, I couldn't run anymore. Leaning my hands on my knees against a tree, I hoped I was hidden enough for them not to find me. I peered behind the tree, trying to look for any sign of them. Nothing. I turned my head to find myself face to face with Cato._

" _Cato? Holy shit, you don't know how happy I am to see you" I said, tears running down my face. I went to hug him, but he pushed me back against the tree with brute force._

" _Guys! I got her" he shouted to the others. What? No! Why was he doing this?_

" _Cato, please, what are you doing? I thought you said you would keep me safe?" I pleaded with him on my knees, not wanting to die. He knelt down so we were face to face. He held my face with his hands._

" _How did you never catch on 12? Like you? Are you serious? We're enemies, and it was all a ploy to find your weaknesses, which I guess was me" he said, and without waiting for me to answer, he grabbed my head in between his huge arms, strangling me._

" _Cato… please...stop" I struggled to speak as his vice like arms drew the life out of my body. I tried to scratch his arms, but I was so weak and oxygen deprived, I couldn't do it._

" _Don't struggle Katniss, this will all be over soon" he toyed, enjoying my death. I wanted him to finish it, this was painful and that was his whole plan all along. After a few more forced breathes, I began to fade out. Cato seemed to realise I was dying, and let go of me, throwing me to the floor. I gasped for breath, my hands on my neck._

" _Nice job Cato! Aww did she think you were in love with her? What a stupid bitch!" Glimmer. They were all stood over me in a circle, taunting me. Then Clove stepped forward with a knife in her hands._

" _I got it" she simply said, and proceeded to cut my face with the knife, slowly. I screamed out in pain, but she didn't stop. I could see Cato watching from behind her, his face emotionless._

" _There, not so pretty now is she?" Clove laughed, and Cato stepped forward. My face felt as if it were on fire, and I was starting to choke on my own blood. It dripped into my mouth, my nose and my eyes. But I could still see him. He took the knife off of Clove and knelt down next to me._

" _Like I said, it'll all be over soon" and he plunged the knife into my throat. I choked on the blood, but my eyes were beginning to blacken over. I last thing I could hear was Cato._

" _Enjoy hell 12" I breathed my last breathe, and I was gone._

"Katniss! What the hell!" Haymitch stormed into my room, trying to hold my arms down as I screamed out.

"Peeta! Get in here now!" he screamed out of my door, and within seconds Peeta had come flying in, onto the bed and had me pinned down.

"Sweetheart what happened?" Haymitch asked gently. It was a dream? It was all a dream? But I didn't want to talk about it with these guys. I wanted Cinna.

"Cinna, get me Cinna. Please" I cried. Haymitch looked at Peeta with concern in his eyes, but Peeta got up and went to get Cinna. Haymitch let go of my hands, and made me sit up.

"Katniss, you had a bad dream?" he asked. A bad dream? That was the worst dream I had ever had, even worse than when my father died. I eventually stopped crying, and went to get up.

"Woah, sweetheart, you think that's a good idea?" Haymitch asked, but he didn't stop me as I headed for the bathroom and locked the door behind me.

"Shower" I said, and the shower came on. I pulled my robe off of me, and got into the shower, letting myself fall to the floor as I did. I pulled my knees up to my chest, and cried. I cried in the shower for what seemed like an hour, but I was all cried out. I turned the shower off and dried myself with the towel. Whilst I was in the shower, I had been thinking. What if that dream was trying to tell me something? Telling me not to trust Cato? Maybe he was pretending to like me just to find my weaknesses like he said? And he did say he was my weakness. Well that stops now. I had decided not to go near him during training, and never speak to him again. I was not going to make that dream a reality. I had put my mind into focussing on other things - like my survival.

I walked out into the dining room, but all eyes were on me. I couldn't see Cinna in the room, and Peeta was eating his breakfast.

"Peeta, where's Cinna?" I asked, no emotion in my voice. I was curious though as to where Cinna was.

"He's gone to District 1 to get materials for our upcoming costumes" he said, and resumed eating his breakfast. I sat down next to him, helping myself to a piece of buttered bread with jam. As I ate, I could see Peeta occasionally glance at me from the side.

"What is it Peeta?" I asked as it was starting to get annoying. He looked back at his food before replying.

"Why were you calling out Cato's name when you were having your nightmare?" he asked, and then everyone was looking at me curiously. Fuck, I had been calling his name out. I didn't know what to tell them. But I remembered what I had said to myself in the shower.

"I was in the Games, and the Careers had found me. Cato killed me" There, I said it. And that was part of the truth. They didn't need to know that I was actually calling out his name because I wanted him to pull me out of the nightmare and hold me in his arms.

"Well, sweetheart, I'm sorry to say this, but you have to think about these things when you're in the games. Even making alliances is not a concrete trusting relationship. Today you have training, you need to try and make an alliance" Haymitch said, with Effie nodding her head in agreement.

"But you have to make sure that your allies can benefit you" she said. She was right. How could I ally with Cato when the whole time he could be plotting my murder. No, it would be Peeta and me, and that was final. Effie got up from the table and headed for the door as it knocked. She answered it, it was Octavia and Flavius.

"Effie, you must come downstairs, Mr Beckensford has a new hat and it's the best hat I've ever seen!" she said excitedly. Effie screamed and then Flavius piped up.

"Honestly honey, it's the best in all of the Capitol! You must come see!" he shouted, and Effie screamed again.

"Oh my goodness, I must go and see! Haymitch, look after the children!" she said and she ran out of the door with Octavia and Flavius hooked onto her arms. If it was one thing Effie had, it was she was easy to distract.

"So Haymitch, will you look after the children?" I asked, and Peeta laughed. It was so like Effie to call us children. Haymitch laughed as well, but told us that we had to get ready for training.

"Oh and you're training suits are on your beds" he said. I walked into my room and sure enough the suit was laid out on the bed, along with a pair of boots. It was a full body suit that looked more like a wetsuit. It was black with red sections on my legs, arms, chest and back with the number 12 stitched into the arms. I pulled it on and tied the laces on my boots up. I had one last glance in the mirror before I left, and decided to tie my hair up. I quickly plaited two plaits into the sides of my head, and then threw the rest of my hair up with a hair tie. Yeah, I looked pretty badass. I grabbed Peeta on the way out and we headed for the elevator.

"You look really good in that suit you know, you look tough" Peeta said in the elevator, and I laughed.

"So should we be in love down here or…?" I asked Peeta, and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I mean, we should, the whole world thinks we're in love, it'll help us with sponsors" he said, and with a nod of my head, he grabbed my hand and pulled me from the elevator. Hand in hand we walked into the training room, eyeing up the territory. It was clear that the careers had the most space, they were hunched in their group talking vigorously, and as they heard the doors open, they looked over. Cato's eyes found mine, and he gave a small smile whilst the others' backs were turned. I didn't return it, pulled my face forward and continued walking with Peeta.

"You know the Careers are staring at us right?" he asked me quietly. Yes of course I knew that, but we need to avoid them, I thought.

"That's why we need to stay away from them Peeta. Let's just do our training, and finish this" I said, and he agreed. We headed for different stations at first with me going to the fire starting and snare areas, whilst Peeta pulled his attention to artistic disguise, painting his arm that looked like bark on a tree. I headed over to that station, longing to try out their swords.

"Hey" I simply said, and he hello back.

"That's really cool Peeta" I said, looking at his arm on the tree. It completely blended in, that was amazing.

"So that's going to be your strategy? Just hide from everyone for the whole Games?" I asked, and he nodded.

"I don't want to kill people Katniss, even if those people are out to kill me. That's not me. I won't live that person and definitely won't die that person" he said, and he was right. The Games took that away from us, our compassion and willingness to forgive.

"That's good, I mean I probably wouldn't blend in very well, but I've hunted animals so I might try myself at fighting when the opportunity arises" I said, and he laughed.

"You think killing humans is the same as animals Katniss?" he said, but he seemed serious.

"Of course not! I'm just saying I've grown up hunting and that's all I know how to do" I said, and with anger burning inside, I turned around and walked towards the sword section of the centre. I shouldn't really be doing this, but my nightmare made me want to practice fighting. I picked up the sword I had held this morning, and spun in around in my hands. I could see that the trainers had lined up dummies to practise on, but I didn't want to practice with the dummies. I grabbed another sword, starting walking towards to the career group, and threw the sword into Cato's hand. I was angry, but he didn't know it. He realised what was happening once the sword hit his hand, I had lunged for him and he began lunging for me, swinging the sword. Before he could hit me, I swung back, and our swords clung together, both pushing on the centre.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cato whispered to me. I didn't change my facial expression, pulled back and lunged for him with the sword. He stopped my sword with his own, and we continued this back and forth for 2 minutes before a trainer and 2 peacekeepers had to stop us.

"There is no need to fight here, you'll have plenty of time to do that in the arena" she said, and they took the swords from us. I shrugged off the peacekeepers that was holding my shoulders and walked for the doors. The trainer had followed me, and she grabbed my arm.

"You have to train, otherwise you'll die within seconds" she said, but I didn't want to train today. I had shown the careers that I can fight with a sword. The one thing I didn't want to do. Why did I do it? In fear of my dream? The trainer let go of my arm and allowed me to leave for the day. I walked through the doors and sat on a bench that was against the wall. I don't know what I was waiting for, but I waited for a few minutes before getting up and going towards the elevator. The doors behind me flung open, and it was Peeta.

"Katniss, what was that? Why did you do that?" he asked as he tried catching up with me. He seemed mad at me, but I didn't care.

"I got mad, and my dream.. It just." I said mid sentence, but Peeta kept urging me.

"Just what?" he asked.

"It just made me realise that we don't need an alliance. Let's just stay together in the arena, just us" I proposed. He nodded his head in agreement. I didn't want to trust anyone down here, but I did trust Peeta. So we headed back to our rooms. Peeta stopped me by my door.

"Listen if you wanna talk about it, you know where I am" he said, and walked to his room. He was such a sweet boy, but I didn't know if I wanted to talk about it to him. He wouldn't understand it.

I crawled into bed, not bothering to get dressed, and fell into a deep sleep, emotionally exhausted.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys, I really do hope you're enjoying the story!**

 **I know it seems to be going slow, but you're witnessing the rise of their relationship.**

 **Just to clarify, in my story, Cato and Katniss are 21 years of age. I know it isn't true to the books, but because of all of the sex, I wanted to make them of legal age. So the reaping age in my story is between the ages of 12 and 21, just for clarification.**

 **Thank you for reading guys! Please leave reviews as they'll help me with my writing!**

 **Message me what you would like to see as the story progresses and I'll do my best to include it!**

 **Thanks again!**

Another day, another training session. This session I was quite looking forward too. Haymitch has given me permission to use my fighting skills in training.

"This could be a gateway to an alliance" he said, sipping his coffee, smelling too strongly of liquor.

"Haymitch, the careers know she can fight - what does that mean now?" Peeta asked, out of everyone, Peeta was the most skeptical about this, despite desperately wanting to train using the weights.

"I just don't see how it could possibly work, I mean the careers are allies just because their districts are next to each other, they have things in common, training academies for one" Peeta said in explanation.

"But Peeta, I can fight with a sword, and I didn't train at an academy" I piped up, over my cup of tea. Peeta huffed, it looked like he had given up.

"See you later" he said to me and got up and walked away from the table. I turned to Haymitch.

"So you're coming down with me today?" I asked. He nodded but said he was only coming with me to take me down, he didn't plan on staying.

"Listen sweetheart, you're going to be faced with some decisions today, just make sure you think real hard before agreeing or disagreeing to them. This could cost you your life" said Haymitch. Fuck he was right. Any decision I made today could either kill me or save me, I had to take today seriously.

Down in the training centre, I kept to myself. I didn't want to draw attention to myself, unlike yesterday. I snuck a glance at the careers from underneath my arm, and could see Cato staring at me. I turned away from him almost immediately, and continued with tying the knot on my snare. I could hear them all laughing in the distance, probably at me. I could hear Cato keeping up the facade.

"She thinks she'll survive just by tying a few knots?" he laughed but I didn't know if he was pretending, or if he was being serious, because he kept shooting me horrible stares, that hurt my feelings in a weird way. I remember him telling me not to get upset if he was mean to me, but I can't help feeling as if he is doing it on purpose. He was doing it too often, that's what made me think he was being serious. For the rest of the day, I stayed alone, occasionally talking to Peeta at a few stations. At the end of the day, each district started to leave the training centre, followed by a peacekeeper. As Peeta and I were walked out of the room and towards the elevator, a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me into a corner, even the peacekeeper didn't notice I had gone.

"Who the fu..." I started, but the face that came out of the shadows was Cato's.

"Hi" he said simply. I didn't reply, but instead tried to pull my arm back without anyone noticing.

"Katniss, meet me down here tonight, at 2am, I'll be here for an hour, if you don't show, I'll go back up" he said, and let me go, rejoining the careers who hadn't even noticed his absence.

Back in my room, it was 1:45am. I was hesitant to go back down to meet Cato, but I needed answers to certain questions I needed to ask. I was wearing my sweat shorts and a black t shirt, and headed down barefoot. As I walked into the training room, I could see his blue eyes by the wall. I closed the doors, and started walking towards him. Once I got there, he pulled me into his arms.

"You okay Katniss?" he asked. I didn't hug him back, my arms held down by my sides. I desperately wanted to hug him, I wanted him to kiss me and hold me, but I had to be strong for myself.

"Cato, let go" I said, and he did immediately.

"Listen, I don't want to see you anymore" I said. Cato's face fell, but he seemed to become angry.

"Katniss, what is up with you? Yesterday in training? You know they're plotting the moves you'll take next right?" I guessed he was talking about the other careers.

"You killed me, you betrayed me" I said, but he gave me a look of confusion.

"I killed you?" he asked, questioning my facial expressions.

"I had a nightmare last night, you found me in the arena and called the others to come and kill me. You strangled me, and then you..." I was cut off, Cato had pulled my face up to his and kissed me.

"You're mad woman, I would never betray you. I was raised to respect women and take care of my family" he said, and he kissed me again, this time, I kissed him back. The kiss soon became passionate and our tongues found each other. His hands were resting on my hips, and eventually found my ass. He squeezed my ass and I began to undo his shirt. I wanted him so bad, but this could be part of his master plan.

"Cato stop" I said, and he did. He pulled away from me, and gave me my space.

"Katniss, I've had a shitty day, I really need this, I need you" he said. And with those words, my mouth found his lips once more.

"Let's go to my room" he suggested, and together we headed for the elevator.

Cato's room was huge, much bigger than mine. His king sized bed was set in the middle of the room, and he had 3 floor length windows looking out onto the Capitol below. As he shut the door, he pulled me towards him by my t shirt, and pulled it over my head. His hands found my ass as he lifted me into the air, my legs around his body. He sat me down on a chest of drawers close to his bed, and proceeded to take off my sweat shorts. Now completely naked, I sat with my legs wrapped around Cato's body, whilst his hands explored my pussy. Oh god, it felt so good. He continued to kiss me until his lips found my neck. He began to finger me and his pace quickened and quickened.

"Holy shit Cato... oh my god... " I breathed as he continued to please me, whilst his mouth found my chest.

"God you have no idea how much I want you right now" he said, and he put his hands underneath my ass and pulled me forward to give him access. Soon enough, his erection was pushing on the opening of my pussy.

"Don't tease me" I breathed, getting impatient. He moved my face up to his, and kissed me, pushing his erection into me. I felt his muscles as he pounded me, getting quicker and quicker. God this was so good, I didn't know how much I need it too. He has a fistful of my hair as he held me to him, continuing to thrust his cock inside me. One hand was on my ass, and he occasionally lifted me up just so he could smack it. Soon enough my muscles were tensing, and I found my release, seconds before he did too. He didn't pull out straight away, but kissed me very strongly, holding my chest to his.

"That was nice" he said, and he smiled.

"It was indeed, but it wasn't what I was expecting to do when I came to meet you you know?" I said, kissing his neck. His cock was still inside of me, but he began to move it slowly, back and forth.

"And what did you expect to do?" he teased, and he started thrusting again. I let my head fall back in pleasure as he began to get quicker with his thrusting. Oh god, again.

"I'm not finished with you just yet" he said, and started pounding away at my pussy. My muscles tensed up once more, and I was exhausted.

"You're exhausted?" he laughed. It was true that I didn't do anything, but even still, it's been a long day. He pulled out this time, and passed me my t shirt and shorts from the floor.

"Thank you, how kind" I teased as I pulled them on. I sat on his bed waiting for him to get changed.

"So, what do you wanna do?" he asked me. What did he mean?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Are you going to join us or not?" he said, and my face fell at the words. Haymitch told me to make decisions carefully, with my life on the line.

"Well I was told that your allies are supposed to benefit you. How will you benefit me?" I asked, leaning towards me. He smirked and sat on the bed next to me, pushing us both back so we were lying on our backs.

"You can have sex anytime you want" he said with a smile, and I knew he was being cheeky. I gave him a playful slap and asked him again.

"Cato, seriously, how are you going to benefit me if I ally with you?" and this time he sat up to answer.

"Well what do you want out of this alliance? Trust? Someone to protect you? Whatever you want, you can have. I'll make sure of that" he said, and his hands found my legs as he pulled me down the bed towards him. He leaned over me, his arm hovering next to me to keep his weight off of me. His nose was touching mine, and he was waiting for me to answer.

"I want you to promise that you're not going to kill me" I asked. He looked me in the eyes and brushed his lips on the tip of my nose.

""Katniss, I promise I won't kill you. If this is about your dream, it was only a dream" he said matter-of-factly.

"What if it was trying to tell me not to trust you? All of this could be to do exactly what you want, and it'll get me killed" I said.

"Katniss, you're thinking into things that aren't true" he said. He kissed my lips and then stood up, pulling my hands so I was sat up. We fell asleep together that night, I was lying on his chest. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, he didn't look like a killing machine at all. I should be leaving right now to go back to my own room, but I couldn't bring myself to leave him. What if he was telling the truth? If I joined them, I'd train myself to fight them, if it came down to it and Cato really did betray me, at least I could defend myself. This alliance might keep me alive for longer, and there was no doubting I would perish in the Games. I decided to sleep on it, and give him an answer in the morning.

I lay awake for hours, Cato holding me to him. It felt good to sleep next to someone, feel their skin on your skin - it was comforting. I looked at the alarm clock on his bedside cabinet, the time was 5am. I probably should get back to my room before the others noticed later.

"Cato, wake up" I said, quietly, but he was in a deep sleep, he didn't hear me. I slowly got up, stretching my arms whilst sat on the side of the bed. I tucked him up in the blanket and kissed the top of his forehead.

"I'll do it, but don't let me down Cato" I whispered before I left. I made it back into my room within 5 minutes, and settled down in my own bed, already missing him. After having no sleep, training was going to be a challenge today. But on the bright side it prepared me for the Games. It was training in itself. I got up and helped myself to the breakfast buffet that was being set out by an Avox. I looked at the Avox girl as she was preparing the plates and cutlery, and looked into her face. No. It couldn't be. I stepped closer, making it obvious I was looking at her. I recognised her, and I know where from. A couple of years ago, I was hunting in the woods alone in District 12. I had shot down a turkey when I heard the rustling of the woodland floor behind me. I was terrified it was peacekeepers coming to drag me away to the Capitol, but it was a girl accompanied by an injured boy. She was half walking half dragging him on her shoulder and it seemed he had been bitten by something. I peered out from behind the tree, and she caught a glimpse of me. She fell onto her knees when the boy fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"Help, please" was all she said before the hovercraft appeared from above, dragging them into the sky with huge metallic claws. That was the last I had seen of her, until just now, and I was sure it was her.

"I know you" I said casually to her. She didn't look up, but her hands had stopped putting plates on the table. I walked over to her, taking the plates from her hands.

"It's okay, you can talk to me, I won't hurt you or tell anyone" I said. She tried to speak but instead a weird gurgling sound came out of her mouth. Of course, Avoxes don't have tongues. I realised my mistake, and sat her down.

"I'm sorry I didn't help you" I said apologetically, but she waved her hand as if to say 'it was years ago'.

"It doesn't matter how long ago it was, I should have done something, pulled you behind the tree with me" I suggested, but she remained quiet, not moving her arms. There was the sound of a door opening, and Effie walked out to find the Avox girl and I sat down having an attempted conversation. At the sight of the Avox sat down, Effie flustered.

"Oh my goodness, why are you sat down? You have work to do!" she screamed, and immediately the girl stood up. She kept her head faced down in respect, but Effie continued.

"Well I never, an Avox sitting down on the job. I must tell Seneca" she said, and with that name mentioned I jumped from my seat and pleaded with her.

"Effie please, I was lonely and wanted to talk, but I didn't realise.." I stopped because it was clear Effie knew what I meant.

"Very well, just don't let me catch you sitting down again, and I won't mention anything to Seneca" Effie said, and waved the Avox girl away. Effie came and sat next to me in the seat that was occupied moments ago by the Avox girl. She took my hands in hers.

"Katniss, whatever is going on, you can tell me and I promise I won't say anything to the others" she said, and with that being said, I told her everything. I told her about Cato and I, leaving out the sex, and how I wanted to trust him but didn't know how. I told her about the alliance proposal.

"Oh Katniss, it's so hard being a woman. Our heart tells us to do one thing, with our mind telling us to do the opposite. But it is what you decide to do; follow your head, or follow your heart. It's your life Katniss, and if you think it's a good idea, then you go for it" she said, and pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back, reminding me of hugging my mother whenever the moment came around. She held me for a minute or two and let me go, still holding my hands.

"I won't tell Haymitch, but I highly recommend you mention this alliance to Peeta. Does he even know?" she asked. No, Peeta didn't know, but I didn't want him to find out.

"He doesn't but I don't want him to know Effie, it'll either break his heart or make him angry" I said, but the tears were starting to fall. I couldn't imagine Peeta being angry in the Games, I didn't even know what he was capable of when he was angry, let alone if he had a weapon in his hands. Effie just waved it off, saying he would never hurt a fly, let alone hurt me. But what is stopping him from hurting me? His sense of compassion, or was he in love with me for real? God my head was a mess. I didn't know what to do. I decided to follow Effie's advice, and I had chosen to follow my heart. Cato was apart of it, and I wanted to stay with him throughout this. I would tell him later, if I could get him alone somehow.

"Thanks for the chat Effie, I think I've chosen" I said, and she nodded supportingly. I got ready for the last day of training, and rode the elevator down to the training centre, trying to think of a way to tell Cato that I agreed to his alliance.


	5. Chapter 5

Instead of heading straight for the fire making station, I went for the bow and arrow area. There was a trainer there to help support and advise tributes, but I didn't need his help, I knew what I was doing. I grabbed the bow and an arrow from the rack, aimed it at the dummy, and hit the target directly in the middle. I did it again and again until I knew I could do it.

"Why don't you try it on a moving target?" the trainer asked, and pressed a button on the wall that made the dummies start to move around. I aimed my arrow and one dummies target, but it kept moving off centre. I took a breathe, released the arrow, and sure enough it had hit the centre of the target. I hit three dummies in a row, one after the other, all of the arrows hitting the targets dead on.

"Well done Katniss" the trainer said. I placed the bow back on the rack and continued over to the knife throwing station. Clove was already there and she was throwing knives at lightning speed. Cato was stood next to Glimmer and Marvel on the sidelines. However, Glimmer was standing way too close to Cato, which he noticed, and moved to the side, away from her. He was watching me and I was looking at him. How was I going to get him on his own? I thought about how I would tell him. I walked past the knife throwing station, and headed directly for the rest of the careers. Cato looked surprised to see me walking over.

"No sword this time 12?" he taunted. I stopped in front of them, looking at Cato.

"Yes" was all I said.

"Yes? What the hell are you talking about?" Glimmer asked in a persistent tone. I looked at her, and then back to Cato.

"Yes" I said again, but this time I walked away. I continued to the knife throwing station, throwing knives the same speed as Clove, hitting the targets dead on. Clove didn't seem to like that I was the same skill level as her with the knives.

"Try it on moving targets 12, we're not going to be stood still in the arena" she said in a horrible tone, and pushed the trainer, who pressed the button to get the targets moving. Right, time to show them. The dummies were moving faster than at the last station, but I kept up to speed, throwing the knives one after the other into the same dummy. With all three knives sticking into the target, Clove walked up close.

"You better watch yourself 12" she said, and walked back to join the others. I could see them delegating something, but it was barely a whisper, so I couldn't hear. I laughed to myself. Clove getting jealous. What a sight. Cato started laughing at something Marvel had said to him, in which Clove punched him on the arm. I assumed it was something to do with me outdoing her in her renowned station. The bell rang, signalling the end of the day, but Capitol attendants had prepared a hall just off of the training room for us to use for lunch. Walking in, I looked for Peeta. Funny, I don't even remember seeing him in training today. Where could he be? I know he wouldn't miss out on training, but he wasn't here. So I grabbed a tray of food and a glass of water, and headed to an empty table. In front of me, the careers, all laden with trays of food, had sat down at their table, with Cato facing towards me. He glanced at me every few seconds, but I never took my eyes off of him. I was looking for anything that could put an end to this alliance. But whenever he looked at me, he smiled. Damn, he was so hard to read! The next time he looked at me, he did for some time. But when he looked away he was immediately talking to the group about something that I couldn't hear. A minute later, Marvel got up from his seat, and came towards me.

"Listen 12, you wanna sit with us?" he asked, in a friendly tone.

"Um, no thanks, I'm fine here" I said, and looked back at my tray.

"If you don't you might regret it" he said, standing across the table from me with his arms folded over his chest.

"Regret it?" I asked.

"Yeah, but you won't find out, unless you join us" he said and he took my tray and brought it to their table. Ugh, I couldn't even imagine what it would be like having lunch with the careers, but I got up and started for their table. I purposely chose the seat directly in front of Cato, so we were now face to face. Sitting with the careers wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Clove was cracking jokes most of the time, Glimmer staring at Cato, Cato laughing at Marvel laughing at Clove, and me, just sitting in silence. I didn't know how to join in, or doubt if they would even allow me to talk. But I didn't have to volunteer myself, as Glimmer spoke to me.

"What did you mean when you said yes earlier 12?" she asked me, resting her head on her hand. The table was looking at me. They didn't know that I was asked to join their alliance by Cato, and I didn't want to rat him out. So I stayed silent. Cato seemed to sense that I didn't want to answer so he told them.

"After I seen her with that sword the other day, I thought she could be an asset to us, so I asked her if she wanted to join us" he said simply, and drank water out of his glass. Glimmer looked outraged, jealous even. Marvel laughed.

"Hey man, she was pretty good with that sword, why not 12?" he said, and he patted me on the back. Out of the whole group asides from Cato, Marvel seemed the friendliest.

"Okay, but let me tell you all this" I started, and I put my arms out onto the table to show them I was being serious.

"Oh what can you do for us 12?" Clove taunted and Glimmer laughed. God she was so annoying.

"If I join you, if at any point you try anything on me, I will fucking kill you. Don't doubt me just because I'm from District 12" I was aiming this more towards the girls, as they seemed the least pleased about me. The anger in my face must have been showing because Cato looked taken aback that I would say that. But I didn't care, I had to tell them. Clove laughed along with Glimmer. Marvel's mouth was open in shock, but Cato simply looked at me, amusement on his face. I had had enough of this. I got up and left the table, heading for the doors. Once in the elevator, the doors began to close, but not before a hand had stopped them from closing. It was Cato. He stepped into the elevator, pressing the 12 button as he did. The doors closed and we were alone. Without thinking about it, I turned around and kissed him. He kissed me back and for a while we were in eachothers arms.

"You're going to do it then? Join us?" he said, as he gave me a small kiss on my lips and rested his forehead on mine.

"Yes. I lost my temper at the table, they just kept laughing at me" I said, but Cato sensed I was upset, and pulled me into his arms.

"They're just jealous. You outdid Clove in the only thing she's good at. Glimmer is just jealous of you because she won't have me to herself" he said with a small laugh which made me laugh. It was funny seeing her lunge for him when it was obvious he wasn't interested.

"She was standing very close to you earlier" I said with a laugh and he looked at me with amusement.

"Oh no, don't tell me you're getting jealous?" he said, leaning in to kiss me again. The elevator was at my floor, but we were still embraced in each others arms, we didn't notice the doors opening, where Peeta was stood, watching us kiss.

"What the hell Katniss?" he said, but he sounded heart broken. Damn it, this is exactly what I thought he would react like. I pulled away from Cato and tried to grab Peeta's hand. He immediately pulled away, stepping back from me.

"No I don't want you to touch me, I want you to tell me why you're kissing.. Why you're kissing him?" he asked exasperated, motioning to Cato, who was just stood there with a smug grin on his face. He was not helping the matter at all.

"Peeta listen, me and Cato, we're just.. We're..." Fuck, what were we?

"We're allies" Cato said. Peeta's started laughing.

"Oh allies? You don't usually kiss them do you?" he asked. Brilliant. I didn't really have an answer to give him for this, so instead, I reached over for the number 2 button on the elevator panel, and the doors began to close. Peeta didn't move, but remained emotionless as he watched as the elevator doors close.

"Jesus, what's his problem?" Cato asked. I knew what his problem was.

"I think this whole 'pretending to be in love to get sponsors' act has affected him for real. I think he's really in love with me" I say, turning to face the other side. Cato stayed silent, but I could hear his breathing increase.

"What do you want?" he asked, his voice sounded upset.

"I want you, I thought I had made that obvious?" I shouted back. I knew the words that I wanted to say, but I didn't know how or even if I wanted to say them right now.

""Katniss, I fucking love you. Okay? I've fallen in love with you, and I don't know what that means for the Games, but I know what it means for us" Cato said, trying to pull me towards him. Holy shit, he said it. Just as I was thinking it, he said it. Fuck, fuck, what do I say? Should I say it back? There were so many thoughts coming into my mind, I must have not replied, because he pushed me a little to bring my attention back.

"I love you too" I said, and allowed him to pull me into his arms. It was the truth. I had fallen in love with the boy from District 2, my fellow tribute, my ally and the person I'm expected to try and kill tomorrow.

"Cato, we're going into the arena tomorrow. What are we going to do?" I cried, and the tears began to fall from my eyes. He cradled me in his arms as the elevator reached his level, and pulled me from the elevator into the district 2 quarters. Luckily, no one was around, as he pulled me into his room. Once the door was closed, he led me towards the bathroom.

"You know I kind of fancy a bath" he said, and as he said it, the taps in the bath began to gush with water. I stripped out of my clothes, and was stood naked waiting for the water to fill the bath. Cato, walked into the bathroom naked, turned off the taps, and stood in the water.

"It's actually really warm, come here" he said, holding out his hand. I walked over and took it, and stepped into the water. God it felt so good against my skin. It was comforting, I needed this, just to feel safe. We led in the bath together, me in between Cato's legs as he sat behind me.

"We'll be alright. Just stick with me in the arena, and you'll be safe" he said, kissing the back of my head.

"I want to believe you Cato, but my dream felt so real" I said, his hands stroking my arms. He kissed the back of my head again.

"I'm sorry for killing you in your dream, but I wouldn't do that Katniss. I love you, and I want to protect you" he said in a soft voice.

"I love you too, but I mean it. I want to feel protected in the arena, but I know at some point we might get separated, and I'll have to protect myself when that happens" I say.

"Well if that does happen, you'll be okay. Just stick to what you know, and I'll try and find you as soon as I can. This is if it happens" he finished. We continued to lay in the bath.

"Cato, this could be our last night together you know" I say disheartened. It was horrible to think about. I had finally found the person that I love, and all of that might end tomorrow.

"Well let's make it memorable then" he said, standing up. I stood up too, facing him. He stepped out of the bath, but before I could get my leg over the edge, he was picking me up in his arms. His hands on my ass, I wrapped my legs around his middle and held onto his shoulders. Soon enough, we were kissing, but there was something about this kiss that was different to all of the rest we had shared. This kiss was strong, as if it would be the last one ever. Cato stood on the spot for a while, with me in his arms, just kissing. He started walking towards his bed, where he dropped me down on my back. I felt like the bed sheets were getting wet and remembered we had just come out of the bath.

"Cato, I'm all wet" I said laughing as he led on top of me and started kissing my neck.

"Oh I'm glad" he said. He was on top of me, but I sat up quickly, forcing him to stand. I could see his erection was growing. I took it in my hand began to move back and forth, pleasing him. He threw his head back in pleasure, and whilst he wasn't looking, put his cock into my mouth.

"Holy shit Katniss.. Jesus" he breathed, but he put his hands on either side of my head, and began to guide me. He pushed my head towards him, and then back, and towards him again. As I was sucking his cock, his fingers were going through my hair, gripping onto it. I got faster and faster with him in my mouth.

"Katniss, stop, I don't want to yet" he said, and he pushed me back, lifted me onto the bed, and within seconds he was deep inside of me. He pounded faster and faster into me, kissing my neck. God, I loved it when he did that. He stopped, pulled out, and flipped me so I was on my stomach, my ass in the air. He grabbed onto my hips and pushed his cock into me. Oh my God, this felt so good. He thrusted deeper into me, and got faster and harder.

"Holy fuck Cato.. oh my god" I screamed out. I couldn't keep it in, it felt so fucking good. He was moaning too, his breathing getting heavier with every thrust he made. He pulled out again, this time, he led on the bed on his back, and pulled me on top of him. I sat over his cock, kissing his neck, teasing him.

"Katniss, ride me" he said, and I proceeded to sit onto him. I could feel his cock deep inside me, and I started riding him. His hands were on my hips, pushing me back and forth. Occasionally he would smack my ass, which only made me speed up. After a few minutes, that familiar sensation came over me, and as my muscles tensed, Cato let out one final moan and I could feel warmth inside of me.

We were laying in each other's' arms for ages, just in silence. We were both worn out from the sex, but he cuddled me into him. I looked up at him from his arms.

"Hey, I love you" I said, and he looked down at me and kissed my forehead.

"I love you too" he said. "Just remember what I said about tomorrow, okay? Once that gong sounds, we'll have to jump off of our podiums, but run straight for me okay?" he said, and I nodded, which he felt. We didn't say much during that night, but we soon fell fast asleep.

The next morning, I was surprised to see I was still in Cato's arms. I thought it had been a dream. I didn't want to wake him, he looked so calm when he was asleep. I laid my head back down on his chest, and I felt his hand come up from his side and rest on my head, stroking my hair.

"You're still here then, you didn't stick around last time" he laughed.

"I wanted to stay" I said, and rested my head on his chest again. We stayed like this for another hour, waiting for something to find us. But no one ever came, so we got up, showered, and of course, had sex, then we got dressed and walked for the doors.

"So, I guess I'll see you later" he said, as I was waiting for the elevator to arrive. I didn't want to think about earlier, but it was going to happen. He pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly.

"You know, when I first met you, I didn't know you were capable of loving someone like me" I said, and he held my face in his hands.

"Because I'm some big muscly guy who happens to be really good at killing?" he laughed, and we held each other until the elevator arrived. This was it, the next time I would see Cato would be in the arena. I kissed him before I left and stepped into the elevator, pressing the number 12 button. Before the doors closed, he spoke to me.

"I love you Katniss, for real, please don't forget that when we're in the arena" he said. I nodded and the elevator doors closed. Back up in my own room, I was called out by Effie who said Cinna was here to escort me down to the hovercraft space. Cinna walked into my room, holding my outfit for the games in his hands.

"Looking a the material they've used, I'm guessing it could be cold, so this jacket is weather regulating. It'll keep you warm when you're cold, and cool when you're hot" he said, shrugging the jacket onto me. Getting changed in front of Cinna was old news. There was no such thing as privacy in the Capitol. Dressed and ready, Cinna quickly styled my hair for me. He went for 2 plaits on either side of my head with the rest of my hair in a high ponytail.

"There now you're ready" he said. He took my hand, and together we headed for the hovercraft space.


	6. Chapter 6

The runway was cleared, and the hovercraft lifted into the sky. Cinna was sat next to me, holding my hand. We didn't speak or do anything. We just sat there, holding onto the last bit of peace I'll get. It took about 45 minutes on the hovercraft to reach the arena, and once back on the ground, Cinna and I were escorted into a private launch room. It was metallic and grey inside, and there was an empty tube waiting. I looked at the tube, and began to hyperventilate. I couldn't believe this was happening. Cinna took hold of both of my shoulders.

"Katniss it's okay. Listen. Once you're in the tube, they'll seal it from this side, and you'll be taken up to the arena. It's very important that you don't jump from your podium before the gong sounds, otherwise they'll blow you sky high" he said, embracing me. I clung onto Cinna, not wanting to let go. He pulled back so we were face to face again.

"When the gong does sound, make sure you jump off your podium straight away. If you hesitate, it'll blow up" he said, and we hugged again. I was ready and set, I had my special clothes on my boots, and my hair was tied away from my face. My breathing slowed as I made my mind focus on what was about to happen. A voice came from the wall behind us.

"40 seconds" it said, and with that, Cinna let go of me and guided me towards the tube. I stepped inside, and it immediately closed. Fuck, I never said goodbye to Cinna! I didn't cry, but it must have seemed as if I regretted something, but Cinna nodded his head. That was our final goodbye.

"5 seconds" the voice said again, and the tube began to rise. I turned to look away from Cinna, I had to focus myself now. Concentrate Katniss. Remember, when the gong sounds, jump straight from the podium, get to a weapon, get to Cato. I repeated this mantra in my head until a bright light started to appear from the top of the tube. Soon enough I was outside, or rather inside the arena. I took a quick look around at the surroundings. Woodland. Okay, that's good, I know the woods. I can do this. I quickly scanned the podiums to find Cato. Fuck where was he? I searched frantically, but I couldn't see him. He must have been stood behind the cornucopia in the middle of us, where the weapons were held. There were backpacks and weapons scattered in the middle of the podiums, enticing us in. They wanted a bloodbath and there was going to be a bloodbath. A voice came over a speaker from the top of the cornucopia.

"Welcome to the 74th Annual Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favour" It sounded like Claudius Templesmith, he was a guy that did chat shows with Caesar Flickerman from time to time. Then another voice began counting down.

"40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35..." fuck, this was it. I was so scared, but I had to find Cato. I had to make that my number one priority.

"24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19..." Only 20 seconds left. This will be the last seconds of a few of these people, but I didn't want to think about which ones. I couldn't see Cato, so I didn't know what to do. Should I run straight for the Cornucopia? Or run into the woods?

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1….begin" the voice had finished, and I leaped down from my podium without hesitation. I stopped before I ran, I didn't know where to go. I was desperately looking around for Cato. There he was. He had ran straight for the weapons, and had picked up a sword. There was a boy running after him with an axe, but that was no problem for Cato. With one swing of his sword, he took the boy down, blood gushing from his throat. I ran towards him, not looking around me before I did. I set my eyes on a bow and arrow in the middle of the supplies and ran for it. To my left, I could see a girl running at me, a knife in her hand. She threw the knife, I ducked, and it went straight through a boy's head that was coming for me on the other side. Just as I had got back up, someone had tackled me to the ground. They were holding me down with their knees pushing into my chest. I looked around on the floor, hoping a weapon would be nearby, and there was. I could see a knife less than half a metre away, and stretched my arm for it, whilst trying to buck the girl off of me. My fingers were so close, they grabbed the end of the knife, and I swung it and plunged the knife into her neck. I pushed her off of me and started running for Cato. I could see him at the entrance of the cornucopia, with the other careers. Now I was in the arena, I didn't know if I wanted to be with the careers. I would never trust them, expect Cato, but he wouldn't fight without them. I had to make a decision. Fuck fuck fuck. To my right was woodland, but Cato had spotted me. He was motioning for me to come over, the area now littered with dead tributes. I hesitated, I didn't know what to do. Fuck, do I go over or run? My heart told me to run for Cato, but my head was bigger than my heart. Cato could see that I was thinking, and started running for me. I turned around and bolted into the woods. I ran as fast as I could, not wanting him to find me. I could hear him not far behind me as my feet crunched the woodland floor.

"KATNISS!" he shouted, but I continued to run. Fuck, why did I do that? I didn't have anything. I had no supplies and no weapons. Cato was the best choice, but my fear had taken a hold of me. I just wanted to get as far away from the careers as I could. I looked up in front of me, and to my surprise there was a huge tree. I grabbed the tree trunk and shimmied up, grabbing onto the nearest branch. I climbed up the tree, and tried to get as high up as I possibly could. I couldn't climb any more as there were no more branches. I settled myself on a thick branch, and sat down, not daring to breath. They were here, underneath me. I could hear them running around the area, trying to find me. Then they all stopped. I could just about see them through the leaves, daring not to move. Glimmer moved towards Cato.

"Well it looks like she didn't want to stick around huh? That's fine, she'll be the first we hunt down" she said, and walked away with Clove. Marvel stood next to Cato and patted him on the shoulder.

"Hey man, look I know she seemed nice and all, but she broke the alliance. What does that mean for you two?" he asked Cato. What? He knew about us? Cato shrugged him off, and told him to start collecting nearby supplies that could help them. Marvel did, and left just Cato standing underneath the tree I was hiding in. He walked up to the tree, and put his hand on it and looked around. He looked up into the tree.

"Katniss, I know you're up there. Look, whatever is going on in your head, be careful. We'll be camping here tonight, so don't come down until the others are asleep" he said, and he walked away. Okay, so Cato knew I was here, but the others didn't. It didn't seem as though Cato would tell them, and they were camping underneath me tonight.

The sun started to set, and eventually the moon was bright in the sky. The careers below me were sat around a fire. Clove was throwing knives at what I assumed to be a lizard, Glimmer was laughing with Marvel, and Cato was sat on his own, glancing up into the tree every few minutes.

"Guys, we should get some sleep. We have half of the tributes to kill tomorrow, so we need to rest" Cato said, and with all around agreement, they all settled in for the night. He waited about an hour, to make sure they were asleep, before he started climbing the tree. Fuck, what was he doing? I didn't move, hoping he might not see me. What would I tell him? I could see him coming up through the foliage, and then he was face to face with me, standing on a branch and holding onto one above his head.

"Hey" he said, but I felt too embarrassed to look at him. He pulled my chin towards him, so I was looking into his face.

"What's going on Katniss? Why did you run?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper in fear of waking the others.

"I was scared" was all I said. He pulled me into his arms as best he could and held me to his chest, kissing the top of my head. I wanted to stay with him so much, but it was the others I didn't trust.

"Before I ran, I thought about what would happen to me if I joined the group. Either severely injured or dead I guessed" I whispered. He held me close.

"Katniss, I told you I wouldn't let them do anything like that. If they tried to kill you, they know I'd kill them all within seconds, they wouldn't dare try it" he said.

"Look just climb down and sleep with me, with us" he said, and I agreed. What good would it do me to sit in this tree? I'd eventually die of dehydration. They were still fast asleep when we got to the ground. Cato took my hand and led me to where he was sleeping.

"We can't sleep too close together, otherwise they'll know something's up" he said, laying a mat on the ground for me a metre away from him. We led down a metre apart. I stretched my hand out and he did the same, and we held hands for a few minutes. Clove sat up, and we quickly pulled our hands back, but it didn't look like she had noticed. I turned over, and tried to get some sleep, struggling with the thought of a knife going into my back.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Clove shouted at Cato. I turned over and could see she was heading towards me, with a knife in her hand. Cato stepped out and stopped her, pushing her to the ground.

"What the hell Cato? What's wrong with you? What do you care if I hurt her a little bit? She did break the alliance right?" Clove said, Glimmer nodding her head in agreement.

"I care if you hurt her" Cato said, and pulled me by my hand and walked into the woods. We could hear Clove in the background.

"What the hell is he doing? She's from 12, is he serious?" she said, and Glimmer howled with laughter. I ran to try and keep up with Cato.

"Cato, do they know about us?" I asked.

"They shouldn't but looks like they do now" he said, continuing to walk. We kept walking until we were alone.

"You know, even if we think we're alone, we're not. They have cameras everywhere in this place" he said.

"I know, but I just want to feel your warmth" I cried. He pulled me into his arms, and held me tightly against him. He whispered in my ear so the cameras couldn't hear.

"I love you" he said. I whispered it back, and soon enough we were kissing.

"God I miss kissing you" he said, as our lips were locked in a passionate embrace. We could hear crunching from the distance and knew the others were catching up to us. Cato pulled away.

"We should get going" he said.

"So do you still have to be mean to me?" I asked.

"Yes" he said. But he kissed me on the forehead to soften the blow. The others had caught up, but in the time it took them to get to where we were, we had put some distance in between us, and made it look like Cato had tackled me to the ground. It convinced the others very well.

"Nice one Cato, what did she try and do, kiss you?" Glimmer sneered, and Clove was laughing next to her.

"Oh my God, could you believe it if she was in love with him?" Both girls laughed. I was on the ground pretending to be unconscious with Cato stood by my side.

"What did she do for you to tackle her?" Marvel asked, he seemed to use a voice that knew we were pretending, but was keeping it convincing for the girls.

"She tried to grab the knife from my belt" Cato said, I was trying to hold back a laugh. I could hear someone walking up towards where I was laying, and all of a sudden a huge burning pain hit my back.

"Clove, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Cato shouted at her. She had kicked me in my back at full strength, and I was winded. I was trying to hold my breath in fear that they would realise I wasn't really unconscious.

"What do you care Cato?" Clove asked. He didn't answer, but I heard him walk away. The others followed, with Glimmer still taunting me to Cato. I heard Cato shout to Marvel where they were heading, I was guessing so I could follow when the coast was clear.

"Head for the lake, we'll set up camp there and search the area" Marvel said. Hang on, his voice sounded very clear. It was almost as if he was standing right next to me. Everything went quiet. I started to move myself up into a sitting position, but I was struggling from the pain.

"Hey careful, you might have a punctured lung or something" What. Who was that? I turned my head slightly, and could see it was Marvel. What the hell was he doing here?

"Marvel" was all I could manage. He lifted me up, so I was stood on my feet, but he held my shoulders as I was swaying.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked.

"Cato told me all about you alright? I'm not like the girls, they're heartless and jealous. I have to get going now, I have to be with them, but catch up in half hour, we'll be by the lake" he said, and he let go of my shoulders.

"You sure you'll be alright?" he said before he left. I nodded and he ran of to find the others.

I couldn't think about anything except for the pain in my back. I knew there would be bruising, but I couldn't turn my head far enough to check. I took my time walking, I waited like Marvel said, and started following the direction to the lake. All the time I was walking, I thought about Cato's reaction when Clove had kicked me. But he didn't do anything? No, he was keeping the act up, he must have been. If he had pulled Clove to the ground or something worse, they would have all knew that he had feelings for me. That must have been it. I dragged my legs towards the lake, stopping every few minutes to catch my breath. I didn't know if my lung was punctured, but I was struggling to breath. I remembered something my mother had told me when I was younger. To test for a punctured lung, you had to breath in deeply and hold it for as long as you could. If the pain got any worse, you most probably have a punctured lung. I did that, holding it for as long as I could, and let it out. It didn't seem any more painful that what it was, so I told myself that I was fine, and continued. I could see the start of the lake, and heard laughter up ahead. Okay, just slowly walk out and sit down with them, it was that simple. I edged closer and closer, until I was hiding behind a tree. Fuck I couldn't bring myself to do it. I knew the girls didn't want me there, and I most certainly didn't want to be with them. I hung back a bit, taking a step back, causing a twig to snap. Fuck sake.

"What was that?" Clove asked, getting up with her knife ready. Cato put his arm against her, telling her to stay there.

"I'll go check it out, you guys start searching the perimeter of the lake" Cato said, and they all packed up their things and began heading in the other direction. I couldn't hold myself up anymore, and fell to the ground. I knew Cato was waiting for the others to be out of sight, before he ran into the woods, and found me on the ground.

"Katniss, come here" he said, pulling me into his arms. Fuck, that hurt. I winced loudly, and he realised I was in pain.

"How bad is it?" he asked. I didn't know, I couldn't see my back. He started lifting the back of my shirt up, and swore under his breath.

"That fucking bitch, fuck Katniss, does it hurt?" he asked.

"No Cato, it's absolutely fine" I remarked, and he sensed my sarcasm. I was in a lot of pain, but I didn't know what to do. Cato seemed to know.

"Sit up here for a second, I'll be back" he said, propping me up against the tree. Before he left, I grabbed his arm, pulling him close to me.

"Cato, please come back. Don't leave me here" I cried. He took my face in his hands and kissed me.

"Katniss, I promise I'll come back" he said. And he was gone. I was alone, again. No weapon. I really needed to do something about that. 10 minutes had past, and Cato had come back. He was carrying a bag. He lifted my shirt up again.

"Cato, what does it look like?" I asked. I could feel it, but I just couldn't see it. If I could see it I might know what to do to relieve the pain. He hesitated before he answered.

"Katniss.. I mean.. It's bad" he said, he let my shirt go, and started digging through the bag. Fuck, I wanted to see. He pulled out an ointment and started spreading it over the bruises.

"Describe it to me, please" I asked.

"Okay well, it's bruised pretty bad, from the middle of your back and around to your ribs. Does it hurt when I press here?" he asked, pressing his fingers into my ribs.

"No, it feels okay" I said, and he finished rubbing the ointment into my back and side, and pulled my shirt back down.

"Katniss, I should have done something to stop her" he said, upset. I took his hand.

"Cato, what could you have done? Killed her? That would have made it obvious to everyone what we are" I said, stroking the back of his hand with my thumb. He smiled at me.

"You're too nice you know" he said and kissed me gently on the nose. He pulled me up onto my feet, steadied me, and together we headed for the others.


	7. Chapter 7

We were beginning to approach the others and immediately let our hands drop to our sides. Cato walked ahead of me and yelled to the others.

"I got her guys, she thought she could try and climb a tree to get away from me" he laughed, and the others motioned for him to join them. He did, and I was left to stand on the outskirts of the group. I was supposed to be in this alliance, but with the way the girls treated me, and Cato's pretending, I felt like an outcast. A prisoner of war - like they had captured me and were tormenting me. This couldn't go on any longer and if I was going to survive for longer, I had to at least acknowledge them as my allies. So I walked over and sat down with them, sitting nearest to Marvel as I knew he wouldn't mind. As I sat down, Marvel nudged my shoulder as a welcome but the girls threw me horrid stares.

"Listen 12, if you're in this alliance, you have to actually kill people, and prove that you're worth something to us. How many kills have you got?" Clove asked me. Kills? Oh, she meant how many people had I murdered. I had only killed one person, but that wouldn't be good enough for Clove and the others. Cato wasn't looking at me, but instead was fiddling with the grass by his feet. He was a coward in front of the others. I remembered what I had told myself before I joined them; acknowledge these people as your allies.

"I've only killed one person, a girl, but I've hardly had the chance to kill anyone else" I said, throwing back her stare, and she laughed. Glimmer piped up.

"You need to kill more than one. Also, don't think you're special just because you can fight with a sword. It doesn't matter if you don't have one" she said, and turned to Cato for approval. Cato looked up at her, smirked, and handed me his sword. Glimmer's face was a sight to behold; her mouth hung open and immediately had something to say about this arrangement.

"Cato, what are you doing? Don't give her that! Without it, you're-" but Cato had cut her off.

"I'm what? Useless? Not special? I don't need a weapon to kill" he said. And it was true. Cato was strong enough to kill someone with his bare hands. I took the sword in my hands, and weighed it, as I did in the training centre. It was the same sort of weight, but the metal was different. It seemed stronger, and there were tiny holes indented into the blade. Which gave me an idea. I stood up and the others looked up at me.

"Um, where the hell do you think you're going 12?" Clove snapped at me, getting her knife ready in her hand.

"Relax. I'll be back" I assured, and started heading towards the woods. A firm hand pulled me back, I turned to see it was Cato. He had me in a firm grip by my arm.

"You better come back" he said, in a threatening voice, with the others agreeing. I thought about how I could convince them that I'd be back. And then I remembered. Before I left Cinna, he had given me a token. It was a necklace with pictures of my family inside. I asked Cato to hold the sword whilst my hands fumbled at the back of my neck for the clasp. I took the necklace of and placed it in Cato's hands.

"I'll be back" I said, and Cato nodded. He knew I wouldn't leave this behind. I took the sword from his hand, and headed for the woods. I didn't even know if I would find what I was looking for - but I knew that the Gamemakers would have put them somewhere. I walked deep into the woods for what seemed like an hour, when I heard what sounded like someone running through the woods. I ran towards a tree, and hid behind it. I didn't want to be caught in the middle of the woods by myself, even if I did have a sword, they could have a spear or my bow and arrows. I waited, until I saw them. They were running from something, but kept looking back. I couldn't quite make out who it was, but I could see their hair. Blonde. And then he turned towards me. Peeta. I kept myself hidden, because if something was after him, I definitely didn't want it after me as well. I don't think Peeta saw me, because he ran straight past the tree I was hiding behind. And then I saw what was chasing him; it was a huge figure carrying a weirdly shaped axe. I recognised him from the reapings. This was Thresh from District 11. I stayed hidden, crouching down lower into the ground. Eventually he had past the tree, but I waited a while just in case he came back. I turned around to check my surroundings and looked down at my left. There they were. Deadly nightshade. The flowers were in full bloom, but those weren't what I was interested in. I examined the ground, looking for the roots. I cut into the roots with the sword, ensuring the full blade had touched the plant roots. The roots were roaming with deadly toxins that would kill a person slowly and painfully once inside their system. Once the blade was completely covered, I wiped off the excess poison with a leaf and started back for the others. This would make killing people easier, as even the smallest scratch from this blade would kill them. But I wasn't going to tell the others I did this. They could use it against me. I was starting to see the opening of the woods where I had left earlier, and sure enough, they were all still sat there, waiting for me to return. I pushed myself through the bushes and walked towards them. Marvel was the first to see me.

"And here she is, the girl on fire herself. Where have you been?" he asked in a friendly tone. I hadn't thought about what I would tell them. Cato looked at me and then at the sword suspiciously. I took a seat next to Cato and put the sword on the ground.

"I've just been looking for something, but I couldn't find it" was all I said, and luckily enough, they left it at that. Glimmer told the group that they had better get moving. So we all stood up and headed for the lake. I was walking at the back whilst the others were talking vigorously. Cato was walking next to Glimmer, who kept laughing at his jokes overenthusiastically. God that girl was a nightmare. After a few minutes, Cato stopped and knelt down to tie his shoelace. Hang on, it wasn't even untied. But I had caught up all too soon. As I walked past him, he got up and walked next to me, talking to me in whispers, whilst the others walked on in front.

"I know what you were looking for" he said. I didn't reply, just in case he would tell the others.

"Come on Katniss, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Deadly nightshade? I could smell it as soon as you sat back down" he said. Fuck, he knew.

"Don't tell them Cato" I asked, but he insisted he wouldn't.

"Oh, here" he said, handing me my necklace. He offered to put it on for me. His fingers brushed the back of my neck, sending a chill down my spine.

"I really miss you, you know" he said, planting a small kiss on the back of my neck. I checked to see if the others were looking, but they were too busy talking to each other.

"I'm sorry for being horrible to you - I hate it" he said, with sadness in his voice. His hand found my waist, where he gently squeezed it. I took his hand off of me.

"Cato, you can't do that. Not here at least" I said, but he just smirked at me. I cocked my head to the side.

"Are you smirking at me?" I asked him, trying to sound serious. But it didn't work and we both started laughing. He had a gorgeous smile, when it was sincere. I really missed him too. I missed his hands on me, his lips on mine, the smell of him. I wanted nothing more than to jump in his arms and kiss him, but I knew that would not go down well with the others. He seemed to share my thoughts, and looked over to the others. He pulled me into the woods, just on the edge, and pulled me into his arms, kissing me. It was very passionate, but it was the type of kiss that would lead to more. We had to stop, but I didn't want to. His hands found my ass, and he gave it a squeeze. I pulled away from the kiss.

"Cato, not here" I said, as he kissed my neck.

"I need you, I just want to feel you" he said, still kissing my neck. God, did I need him too, but this was not the time or the place for that. A small moan escaped my mouth as he continued to kiss my neck. His hands started moving up my back, where they found my skin. His hands explored my back, relishing in the feeling on skin on skin contact. Our breathing became heavier, and I knew it what it was going to lead to. I stopped him.

"Cato, we should catch up with them or they'll wonder where we are" I said, and he pulled his hands away, giving me one last kiss. Fuck, I didn't want him to stop, but we had to remember where we were. We were in the Games, and this could cost us our lives.

"Okay, but tonight I want to feel all of you" he said, his hand sliding down in between my legs. He gave me a cheeky wink, a quick kiss on the forehead and started walking away to the others. I followed, and it seemed that they didn't notice our absence. Thank God for that. I thought about trying to be nice to the girls; after all, we were allies. I walked up to walk alongside them, but immediately started receiving abuse.

"Don't walk so close to me 12, I might catch something" Glimmer said, and Clove laughed.

"Oh yeah, she might give you a disease or something. Who knows what they live in in 12" Clove laughed. I laughed.

"We live like shit, but it's not as good as your districts obviously" I said. Glimmer laughed.

"Obviously. How often do you eat anyway? What is it like once a week?" they howled with laughter. They were laughing at me, I knew that, but I let it go over my head for the sake of the alliance.

"Sometimes, but in my district, if you need food, you have to enter your name into the reaping each time you ask" I said, but they seemed to shut up.

"Really? They told us in 2 that that was a myth" Clove said.

"Yeah, if we need food, we just go and get it from our kitchens" Glimmer said.

"Well, if we had kitchens, I would do that too, but I don't even have a real house" I said, and both girls looked shocked. Wow, I didn't realise talking about myself in a bad way would worked, but this was all these girls knew. Luxury.

"So wait, where do you live then?" Clove asked, and she seemed genuinely interested.

"So I have a house, but it's sort of a one room get up, you'd have to be rich to have at least 2 rooms in district 12" I said, and it was true. No one had more than 2 rooms in 12, but that was the way I grew up, and so I couldn't enjoy what I didn't have. Glimmer had a shocked look on her face. Soon enough, Marvel and Cato had caught up to us, and joined in with the conversation.

"So hang on 12, you mean to tell me, you live in one room, with how many of you?" Marvel asked.

"I live in one room, with my mom and sister" I said.

"So where is your dad?" Cato asked. Great, I was hoping he wouldn't have been mentioned. I didn't like to talk about my dad. Too many memories came back to me, and I usually ended up in tears when I did speak about him. I didn't answer, but instead stayed quiet. Cato seemed to know that he had made a mistake by asking the question, and gave my hand a subtle squeeze.

"So, I don't have a dad, anymore. He died" There, I said it. But in a way, it felt good to open up to these people. It felt almost as if they were beginning to trust me sincerely. And then Glimmer said the unthinkable.

"I'm sorry about that" she said. What? Did the girl from District 1 just show compassion to a girl from District 12. I wasn't expecting her to say that so stuttered when I replied.

"Uh, thanks. I don't really like talking about him" I said.

"Why? He's your dad, surely you'd like to talk about him?" Marvel asked. Cato seemed to sense that I was getting upset, and tried changing the subject.

"Hey guys, did you just see that?" he said, pointing to the side, where the woods were. Everyone immediately turned their heads to the direction of where he was pointing, and Clove quickly pulled out her knife.

"What was it Cato? A tribute?" she asked, searching warily.

"I don't know, but I definitely saw movement from over there" he said, and with that they all started running towards the woods, leaving me and Cato alone.

"Thanks" I said to him.

"No problem. My mom died a few years ago, and I struggle to talk about her as well" he said. Wow, I didn't know this.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did he die?" Cato asked me, as we started walking towards the woods, where the others were running around looking for what Cato had seen.

"Um, he went to work one morning in the coal mines, with a bunch of other dads, sons and brothers. About an hour after he left, there was this huge explosion. Wiped out nearly half of the district. Luckily, I was out of the house at the time, because our house was blown to pieces. But, we got the news an hour later. He wasn't going to come back" I said, my voice cracking. He took my hand for a brief moment, and then let go.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked" he said, but I was glad he did. I was good to talk about my dad. It felt like I was reconnecting with him after years of him not being around. We caught up with the others, who were questioning Cato.

"Are you sure you saw someone? Could it have been an animal?" Marvel asked.

"Could have been, but I thought it was better to check" he said. We headed deeper into the woods, hunting down the tributes. Marvel walked next to me and spoke to me in a whisper.

"So, I know Cato didn't see anything. I'm sorry for going on about your dad" he said, and he apologised. Wow, 2 career apologies in one day. This must be a record.

"It's okay Marvel, it just brings back too many memories" I said, and he left it at that. We continued to walk until Clove stopped.

"Clove, what is it?" Cato asked. She pointed to something in the distance; fire smoke.

"Stupid, honestly, during the day as well?" Cato said, and they started walking to where the fire was. Oh no. A fire meant a tribute. But what if it was Peeta? I don't know if I could see him get killed. I mean, we were friends but I never really played along with the whole love story. But Peeta wouldn't be that stupid.

"Yep, that's a fire alright. You guys ready?" Clove asked, and she pulled out two knives from her belt. Cato didn't have a weapon, but I gave him the sword.

"Katniss, you need this" he said. But I shook my head.

"No, I don't. Whoever it is, I'd rather not kill them" I said, but he shook his head. He obviously wasn't impressed with my lack of killing.

"Listen, you need to kill someone, otherwise they'll start doubting you" he said, and told me to keep the sword and walked away. So that's it. I had to kill whoever it was. We were getting closer to the fire, and I could see that the fire starter was a girl. Stupid, I thought. Did she learn anything from training? Clove walked up behind her, but she hadn't noticed us yet. She was rubbing her hands together to keep warm.

"That was a really dumb idea" Clove said, and immediately the girl turned around, and fell to her knees.

"Oh God, please, please don't kill me, please!" she pleaded with Clove. Clove just laughed at her. She looked at me.

"12, you're doing this" she said, and pushed me forward. The girl pleaded with me not to kill her. I didn't want to do this. My breathing got heavier. Fuck, how could I do this? Then I remembered the sword. Without hesitating anymore, I grabbed the girl's arm and cut it slightly with the sword. Clove and Glimmer laughed.

"What was that 12? That's not going to kill her. You're so weak" Clove said, pushing me aside and started for the girl, a knife in her hand. Cato grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Clove, trust me, she'll die" he said, and motioned for them to continue. The girl was crying hysterically on the floor, holding her arm. I knew that she was experiencing the burning sensation now, as the poison worked its way through her veins, and into her heart. She began writhing on the ground and soon enough she was coughing up blood. Her body was contorting horribly, as the poison was sure enough in her brain by now. Clove was looking at the girl with suspicion. The girl went still, and a cannon fired in the distance, confirming her death. I didn't stick around, and continued walking. The girls couldn't believe that I had killed the girl by a simple scratch, but they seemed scared by it. If only they knew that I had laced this sword with poison for them.


	8. Chapter 8

We had settled down for the night in a small clearing surrounded by a few trees. Cato and Marvel had found a couple of logs, rolled them into the clearing and set them around a fire pit. Clove started the fire, whilst Glimmer sat staring at Cato. I sat on the ground leaning against one of the logs, and Cato sat next to me. Once we were all settled, we started ticking off the tributes.

"Okay, so Marvel, how many did you get?" Clove asked him.

"2, so far" Marvel replied, to which Cato laughed.

"Okay, Glimmer?" Clove asked.

"I only got 3" she said, disheartened. Geez, three? I had only killed 2, but I thought that was a lot. Clove was drawing lines in the ground with a stick.

"Okay, so I got 4, Cato you got 4", and 12 got 2" Clove said as she continued to draw the lines into the ground.

"Okay, so 15 are down, that leaves 9 left" she said. She stabbed the stick into the ground and sat back onto the log behind her. Cato was shaking his head and smiling.

"What?" Clove asked him.

"Nothing, it's just you take this so seriously" he said.

"Cato, we have to take this seriously! If you want to get home that is" she snapped back at him. The conversation started on what I was hoping would have been avoided until the end of the games.

"So, the question is, which one of us is going home?" Clove asked the group. Glimmer laughed.

"Obviously me, do you even know how many sponsors I have?" Glimmer said. Cato laughed at her.

"You can't be serious? What good will they do when you're being tackled to the ground with a knife to your throat? Send down a parachute with a bomb?" He howled with laughter, and Marvel and Clove joined in. Glimmer sat back in her seat.

"Well at least I have a good chance of winning, unlike some" she glared at me. I knew I wouldn't be going home, that was obvious. Before I could reply, Cato stepped in.

"She has every chance of winning as much as any of us do" he said.

"Cato, come on, she's from 12. Look, I don't know what the hell is going on between you two, but just know that you can't protect her forever. Even if we all die and it's you two left, you'll have to kill her to go home" Clove said. Cato looked up at her, looked at me, and then back at Clove.

"Maybe I wouldn't kill her" he said. What the hell? He wouldn't kill me? But then I thought, he would. If it came down to the two of us in the final showdown, he could easily kill me, go back to his district, be crowned victor and live a happy and luxurious life. So why wouldn't he?

"Why not?" Marvel asked Cato. But Cato didn't answer.

"Oh my God, don't tell me you're in love with her?" Glimmer said, in a mushy voice that made Cato angry.

"Shut the fuck up Glimmer, what, like you're in love with me? You don't think I haven't noticed? It's disgusting. It's never gonna happen so just stop" he spat back at her. Glimmer shut up, and sat back quietly. Marvel's head was facing down but I could see he was laughing. Clove was looking between Glimmer and Cato laughing as well. This was not going down well at all. I was looking at Glimmer and she was furious. She was getting really angry, but the rest didn't notice. The rest happened in a blur. Glimmer had stood up, snatching a knife from Clove's hand, and threw it in my direction. I only felt the pain a few seconds after it had happened. I knew she had got me, but I didn't want to look.

"Jesus christ Glimmer! What the hell are you doing?" Marvel screamed, tackling her to the ground. Marvel and Clove were on top of Glimmer now, with Cato looming down over her.

"You should have thought about that before you did it" he said. He took out his knife from his belt and held it up. Glimmer was screaming on the ground, trying to push Clove and Marvel off of her.

"Cato get real! Just kill her before she kills one of us!" she screamed. Instead of throwing the knife into her, Cato just let it fall to the ground, instructing the others to release Glimmer.

"Oh my God Cato, I knew you would come through" Glimmer said, relieved. This didn't seem right for Cato, he would have killed her by now. What was he up to?

"Oh don't think I've come through - get out of here" he simply said. He motioned for Glimmer to leave the group. He wasn't going to kill her.

"Wait - you're making me leave?" Glimmer said and she was stunned. She pulled her hair out of her face and slapped her hands onto her thighs in disbelief. Clove and Marvel were looking at Cato, as if waiting for instruction.

"Glimmer I'm with Cato on this one. Katniss is one of us, and you attacked her. You need to go" Marvel said, and he stepped aside, making a path for her to leave. Clove didn't say anything, she just walked to stand next to Cato. With three careers against one, Glimmer grabbed her pack and headed for the woods. She looked at me one last time.

"I'm coming back for you 12, you're not leaving this arena alive" she spat at me. Once her footsteps became quiet, Cato turned to me quickly and began tearing my shirt away from my shoulder. I peered down to my injury and could see that Glimmer had thrown a knife into my shoulder, the blood seeping down into my shirt. The knife was still there, but Cato had a firm grip on it.

"Katniss, look at me when I do this. This will hurt" he said, and my eyes found his. With a grunt and a pull, the knife was out of my shoulder - that's when the burning began. Searing pain shot down my arm, working its way through my chest and into my stomach. It was agony - my chances weren't looking good, and I wasn't expecting Clove to stick around. I was crying with the pain, it was getting worse as the seconds went by. I looked at Cato in desperation.

"No" he simply said. He knew what i was asking him to do. It would be better for me to die right here, and by his hands. I wasn't going to survive with a wound this bad. Besides, if I didn't die from blood loss, I would definitely get an infection soon enough. My trembling hand found his, and I squeezed it as much as I could.

"Katniss - I'm not doing that. You'll be okay" he said, squeezing my hand back. Cato's face had gone white, he was panicking because he didn't know what to do. He was never taught about how to heal wounds, whereas I was. Maybe there was another way. When I was a little girl, me and my dad would walk through the woods, hunting, fishing and gathering. Sometimes, clumsy little Katniss would trip over a log and fall, grazing her knee. My dad knew just what to do whenever that happened, using plants he found in the woods. But what if those plants weren't even in this arena? I only knew what they looked like. My hand still in Cato's, I pulled him close to me so he could hear me.

"Green plant, big leaves" was all I could manage until I passed out from blood loss. It was peaceful, relaxing to not be in the arena. I could only see black and couldn't hear the outside world. Maybe dying wouldn't be so bad after all.

I could feel the sun burning it's way through my eyelids. My head became lighter and I could hear everything. I moved my hand, dirt and twigs moving through my fingers. My back was stiff and there was an ache in my shoulder.

"Cato, she's waking up" I heard Marvel say. I felt someone move towards me, kneeling down on the ground where I was led. My hand was lifted and I could feel the warmth of skin.

"Katniss" Cato said in a soft voice. I opened my eyes slowly, the light burning them. Cato helped me sit up.

"Well sleeping beauty is finally awake" Marvel laughed as he came to sit next to me. His hand slapped my knee gently. I could see Clove sitting next to a lake, staring out into the distance.

"How do you feel?" Cato said, his hand caressing my cheek. I held my hand against Cato's. My tongue moved around in my dry mouth, my lips had no moisture at all.

"Thirsty" I said. Cato laughed and handed me a bottle of water. I sipped at first, enjoying the cold sensation of the water as it went down my throat. I drank the whole bottle, suddenly feeling bad.

"I drank it all" I said, disheartened. Cato looked at me and laughed.

"Look where we are Katniss" he said, and I looked around. We were by the lake, of course! We could refill this bottle as many times as we wanted. Cato took the bottle from me and refilled it. He set it down next to his pack and sat down next to me.

"I'll.. uh.. Leave you guys to it" Marvel said, getting up and motioning Clove to go with him. Clove didn't argue, she just grabbed her knife and a bottle of water and followed Marvel into the woods. Cato and I were alone. Once I knew that, I rested my head on his shoulder.

"How long was I asleep for?" I asked Cato.

"4 days" he said. What? Did he say 4 days?

"4 days! What the hell! What happened?" I asked, getting flustered.

"Calm down, not a lot has happened. After the Glimmer incident, you passed out. We decided to go to the lake so we'd have the advantage on our side - water and food. Although, no one else can hunt as good as you can" he said, looking at me from the side. I stared into his face, the longing was almost painful. He seemed to want the same thing too, so I leaned in and our lips touched. Cato stopped and pushed me away almost immediately.

"Katniss, they aren't far you know, what if they see?" he asked, looking around.

"Cato it's fine, Marvel knows pretty much and right now, I don't give a shit if Clove sees. I just want you" I say, and lean in again. This time, he doesn't fight back. He pulls my head closer to his and has his hands locked onto my head, kissing me deeply. It was a passionate kiss, and it had so much desperation within it. It had been a few weeks since Cato and I had last slept together, and it was starting to get to both of us. Without thinking about where I was, I moved my legs so I was straddling him. We were still kissing, his hands on my thighs.

"You're a nightmare aren't you?" he chuckled, and continued to kiss me with his lips eventually finding my neck. He nipped and kissed my neck; that familiar feeling was back. I wanted him now. But we were in the open.

"Cato, we need to go somewhere more..." I was thinking of where to go.

"...private" he finished. His hands were grabbing my ass and he was still kissing my neck.

"Katniss, we should do this later. We'll have more privacy then at least" he said, and his hands rested on my legs once again. I nodded, getting off of him and sitting back down on the ground.

"It's been so long" I said.

"I know! Too long! So tonight I will make it seem like it's been no time at all" he said, nipping my earlobe. He got up, grabbed his pack and held out his hand for me.

"You'll be okay to stand" he said. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me up. Something had fallen off of my shoulder. It was a big green leaf; I recognised it. I held it up in my hand.

"You did find it. I didn't think they would have them here" I said, letting it fall to the ground.

"Hey, don't doubt me" he chuckled, and we started walking to find the others.


	9. Chapter 9

Everyone had settled down for the night next to the lake. Clove and Marvel were already asleep, lying within a metre of each other. The sky was pitch black, tiny white specks surrounded the full moon. Of course I knew it wasn't the real sky, but it was peaceful to look at. Cato was kneeling by the edge of the lake, cleaning his weapons. The arena seemed too quiet, but then again, the majority of the tributes were already dead, so the eerie silence made sense. I walked towards where Cato was and sat down next to him. He didn't say anything when I appeared, but rather continued to clean his knives. The lake looked so calm and inviting in the night, so I took off my boots and my socks and put my feet in the water. The cold water felt so good against my skin, soothing my swollen and battered feet. I let out a sigh, which caught Cato's attention.

"It's quiet" he said, as he dropped his weapons on the ground beside him. I nodded and led back, my feet still in the water. Cato led back with me, and I could feel his stare on the side of my face. I turned to look at him and smiled when I saw he was smiling at me.

"What are you smiling at?" I asked curiously. He turned his head so he was looking up into the sky.

"You're just beautiful, even if you are covered in blood and mud" he laughed. I looked down at my clothes to see he was right. I was filthy. I hadn't really been paying attention to how dirty I had been getting whilst in the arena. But an idea flickered into my mind.

"Maybe I should take my clothes off then" I said with a smile. I saw a smile creep across his face, as I started to pull my jacket off, unbutton my shirt, and rip my jeans off. I piled my clothes next to me on the ground, and led back down. I was now only wearing my underwear. I heard Cato let out a huge sigh of frustration as he looked sideways at me.

"I need to fuck you. Now" he said, with a serious tone to his voice.

"You'll have to catch me then, won't you?" I played. I immediately got up, and jumped into the lake, the cold water piercing my skin. Holy shit, it was so cold. I emerged from the water and began to swim backwards, so my face never left his. He was laughing quietly, so as not to wake the others, but Clove and Marvel didn't even look alive they were in that much of a deep sleep.

"Come on then" I taunted, treading the water. He got up, took his jacket and shirt off, and jumped into the lake. I started swimming away from him, wanting to tease him as much as I could. But I couldn't see him. He hadn't emerged from the water yet. Shit, was he okay? Did he bang his head on the rocks as he jumped in? An immediate panic suddenly washed over me as I began to swim towards where he had jumped in. But then something grabbed my legs from underneath the water and Cato's head made an appearance. He didn't speak as he lifted me onto him, his hands holding my ass and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and returned the kiss as it got more passionate. His tongue found mine and one of his hands found my bare chest, squeezing my nipples. I let out a sigh of relief and let my head fall back as his mouth found them. His lips were on my neck, and he breathed deeply against it.

"Cato, I know somewhere" I said, as I started to pull away from him, not wanting to wait another second. I knew there was a cave near the lake. Cato let out a frustrated growl and followed me in the water. We swam for a few minutes before I could see it. The cave was half in the water, and half out. We swam into the entrance and through the winding tunnel insides. At the end of the cave was a flat rock that was out of the water. As soon as I felt the end of the cave, I climbed out of the water, with Cato right behind me. I didn't have time to turn around and see him, as he had me bent over on all fours, my legs spread wide. I let my chest fall to the ground, keeping my ass high in the air. His hands glided down my legs as he kissed his way towards my pussy. His mouth was there as he smacked my ass, eating me out. Holy shit it felt so good. I let out a moan of pleasure as his tongue swirled around my pussy, making it wet. After a few minutes, he couldn't hold back anymore. I could heard him unbutton his jeans and then I felt his hard erection against my pussy. Cato teased me with his cock, sliding it up and down my pussy and my ass.

"Cato" I growled, and he thrust his cock deep inside me. Holy fucking shit. I moaned loudly with every thrust he made. I was moaning so loudly I had forgotten all about Marvel and Clove. I tried keeping quiet, biting my lip. Cato was banging hard against me, pushing his cock deeper and deeper into my pussy. I had forgotten how good this felt. With every thrust Cato made, and slammed back into him, making it even harder. Cato was moaning loudly, making growling noises. His hands gripped my ass tightly, smacking it every now and then.

"Cato, I'm going to cum, don't s-stop" I breathed and my muscles tightened below. But before I could release, Cato had pulled out. What the fuck?

"Cato! Are you serious?!" I whispered, frustrated. He turned me over, and pulled me on top of him. Oh okay, I knew what he wanted me to do. I crouched down to kiss him, and he led his head back. I kissed his chest, his stomach and the top of his legs until I found what I was looking for. I grabbed his cock with my hand, gently moving it up and down. His breathing was getting more and more as I continued this sweet torture for a few seconds. I licked his cock from the bottom to the tip before pushing it deep inside my mouth, sucking hard.

"Fucking hell Katniss, arrggh" he growled, as he grabbed my head with his hands and moved my face up and down over his cock. He pushed my head down so his cock was deep inside my mouth, touching the back of my throat. He held me there for a few seconds before releasing my head so I could breathe. I continued to suck for a few minutes, as he enjoyed every second, occasionally holding my head in place with my hair. Cato grabbed my arms and pulled me up towards his face, where he grabbed it and kissed me hard. As we were kissing, his hands found my ass and lifted it to sit over his cock. Soon enough, we were back in business. This time, it was me that was in control. I sat up, so he could see me, and started to ride him, his hands gripping my thighs as he stared at my pleasured face. We were both moaning as I moved faster and faster. I was so close again and he could tell, so he pulled me forward and held my close to his chest with his arms wrapped around me. He spread my legs wider, and began slamming his cock inside me quickly.

"Ohhh fuck Cato" I screamed, and I couldn't keep the moans back as he slammed faster and faster into me. My muscles began to tighten once again and this time he didn't pull out. As I came, he was still fucking me. But he was close as he had gripped my tighter, holding me so close to him. He let out a loud growl and grabbed my ass to pull me off of him before pulling out as he came.

We were all sweaty and breathy for a few minutes, he still had his arms around me. Holy fucking shit, that was probably better than last time. No. It was better than last time. Once our breathing has slowed down, he let me go, sitting up and bringing me with him. When we looked at each other, we laughed.

"What do you do to me woman?" he laughed as he kissed me on the forehead and we got up from the stone floor. He buttoned his jeans back up. My clothes were still on the embankment where Clove and Marvel were asleep. Fuck! I hope they didn't hear us. Cato gave my ass one last smack before jumping into the water. I jumped in behind him, and followed him back. Once back on land, I quickly got dressed and threw my socks and boots on. We quietly walked over to where Marvel and Clove were and to our surprise they were still in the same position as we had left them in, and still asleep; thank God. Cato and I found a patch of grass near the tree line, and led down. We were quit close together, but we knew we would have to separate at some point to avoid suspicion in the morning. As we cuddled, we stared at the night sky, listening to the sounds of the night. Crickets, owls and the occasional tribute scream. It didn't sound close, so Cato wasn't worried.

"You get some sleep, I'll watch us tonight" he said, his thumb caressing my cheek. If I was being honest with myself, I didn't feel that sleepy. I had way too much adrenaline pumping inside me from the sex. But I knew if I didn't sleep, we wouldn't be eating tomorrow morning as I probably wouldn't have to energy to hunt. I lifted myself off of him, gave him one last kiss and gently shuffled myself a few metres away from him. I faced the other direction and curled up, as my eyes began to close.

"Sweet dreams girl on fire" Cato whispered, but I didn't respond and soon enough I fell into a deep sleep.


End file.
